Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: All right, tonight we're going to talk about something a little different than normal. Today we're going to talk about a spirit that I call agave. Jason, we're going to speak with Danny McKee, one of the owners and founders of Soto Noches Sotol. This is absolutely an amazing product, and he's going to talk about all of the process of how they make this, and it is literally as traditional and ancestral of all the tequilas and agave spirits that we like, with an amazing flavor that we're going to talk about as well. So stick around and learn about Sotol.
Hey, Danny, I'm super stoked about having you here today and talking about your spirit. How are you doing today?
[00:00:53] Speaker B: Hey, Brad. I'm doing great. Thanks for having us. Myself, the Soltunoches liquid on your show.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: Oh, I am really excited to have some of the viewers dive into something different than the tequila I talk about every day and the occasional at Mezcal. So if you could first tell everybody who you are, where you're from, and kind of what is your journey into agave spirits adjacent.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Yeah, well said. That is what we describe our alcohol. I'm Danny from Soltunoche Sotol, and as Brad mentioned, we produce a Sotol out of Chihuahua, Mexico. My backstory into alcohol is actually kind of just what you see right behind me. I used to be a wine collector, obviously a big wine drinker. And then I just. My palate evolved, and I still like wine, but I evolved, I would say, into whiskey, and then did whiskey and bourbon for a while. And then I started to see a lot of Mexican distillates and some just really amazing things that were coming out of Mexico, all parts of Mexico, probably as many did. Similarly, I went to tequila and then started going into some of those specialized tequilas. Mezcal has exploded over the last five years, and at least three of those five years, I would say that I definitely was experimenting with Mezcal. And most recently, sotol has become my passion and the passion of my team on Sotu Noches.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: So to explain what sotol is made from, because we're all on this channel, mostly agave people, and sotol is not made from the agave plant. So tell us a little bit about the plant that is used and its name and how it grows and where it grows.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: Yes. So Sotol is. The plant is called Dzlerion, and that plant is indigenous to the three northernmost states of Mexico, Chihuahua, which is where ours is made, also Durango and Guajilla. There's also Some of the dasy lyrian that has of course made its way up into the southern most states in America. So Texas grows a little bit. Arizon has, I believe even New Mexico does. But that's a story for a different day on what Sotola is called and where it has its denomination of origin.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: Awesome. So how do you harvest that plant and how does it kind of grow? And I'll put some pictures on the video to show what it looks like. But tell me about the harvesting method of the plant.
[00:03:37] Speaker B: Yeah, so. So Toll is wild harvested. And when I say wild harvested, probably most of your viewers have seen Tequila and the Tequila farms where it's just plant after plant after plant and everything is controlled, or I shouldn't say everything, but a lot of is controlled. The water, the terroir. Sotol is a wild plant. It's a perennial that's actually in the asparagus family. And so when I say we are wild harvested, we are literally sourcing these plants, these wild grown plants on the side of mountains. And so it's really cool. I think one of the most amazing things about Sotol and one thing that our company is really proud about is the sustainability factor. And because the plant is a perennial, if it's harvested correctly, we don't kill the plant during harvestation, meaning that we will be able to go back years down the road and harvest again from the same plant. So we're getting great flavor, a great flavor profile out of the Daisy Lyrian plant in our Sotol, but we're also sustainable and we'll be able to go back to that same plant and re harvest again in the future.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: Wow, that's pretty cool. What is the, the growth period before you can harvest it? Is it, since it's a perennial, is it yearly or does it take time for it to grow?
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Yeah, it takes some time for it to grow. That's a great question, Brad. So. So there are some Sotol companies who are producing seven to 10 years. That's a business decision to be made. What we're doing. Our average plant is 15 to 18 years old. And that's where we really love the flavor profile that we're getting.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: Wow. So even though it's a perennial, you still have all of that time that it's growing. You know, I always say with tequila that you're sipping on seven, eight years of sunshine. It's kind of the same with Salt Holden, is what you're telling?
[00:05:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so. And it does take time. And good things are worth waiting for.
[00:05:33] Speaker A: Now this is true. That's right. So after it's harvested, well, talk about how they harvest it. Is it similar to how you harvest an agave plant?
[00:05:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it is. We're digging up the pina, which is the, the part of the plant that grows underground. Agaves are probably a little bit bigger as a general characteristic, but if, for, for the basic connoisseur, if we were to place a daisy Lyrian here and an agave here, they would be, I think, really hard pressed to tell the difference between them other than maybe, maybe just size. And when I say size, our faesy lyrian pinas are £40 on average. Maybe a little less, maybe a little bit more. And agaves, I think are generally a little bit bigger than that, but they look very similarly. We're taking that out of the earth and that is the basis for what we are going to be cooking with.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: So again, like tequila, it's probably something that has to be harvested by hand, right? You're using a person to go out and do it, not a piece of machinery.
[00:06:37] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, no, that's, that's completely accurate. And then depending on where the sotol is actually harvested, there is some rugged terrain. And so there's still ox or cows or horse that are actually used to scale these mountains. So it's, it's a labor intensive process. Our master, Stiller, he doesn't let me get out there. He knows that I'm not built for it. But no, these, these guys are, they're. They're really doing an exceptional job. And part of the reason that myself and our team, and I'm sure many Soto makers have really fallen in love with this category is because of this story that goes beyond. We're talking right now just about how we're sourcing these plants, how we're harvesting them. But there's a beautiful story all throughout that I'm sure we'll touch on as we go.
[00:07:21] Speaker A: Yeah, I've heard some of this story and doing a little bit of my research and yeah, it's pretty cool. Like, I can't wait to get to that piece of it. So when you go from, okay, so you're out of the field and then you're going into a cooking method much like any agave spirit, correct?
[00:07:38] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And so the process, Brad, is actually very similar to mezcal. We are cooking with an underground oven. We call it an orno. We are over some lava rocks. And so, so the pina gets put in there whole. It's covered by some leaves that are Local to the area. And then our product in particular, where you're cooking with some mesquite wood, Every producer does it different based on what you want for your flavor profile. We go a little bit lighter on the wood. We do want some smokiness. We want to stand up well in cocktails. We want to have that smoky flavor, but we don't want it to be overwhelming, like you see in some Mezcals or we've even had some sotols that we think are very smoky. And I'm not saying that that's not a great answer. I'm just saying that that's different than our flavor profile. So. Yeah, so the, The. The leaves, the. The mesquite wood is piled in the orno. It's filled in with dirt. It's slow roasted for a period of days. And. And that's the beginning of our cooking process.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: Wow. So another long and slow process from growing the plant, harvesting the plant, cooking the plant. So you're. You're just putting it in, like, some kind of diffuser and making it right into juice really fast. Right?
[00:08:52] Speaker B: Of course. I think the diffuser is the. That's the word that gets us all canceled these days, right?
No, we are not using any diffusers. We are not using additives. I want to be very clear about that.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: Totally kidding. So once you've finished cooking, there's probably a time frame that you have to let it cool to be able to get those pinas out of that pit. Right. And then how do you go about crushing or extracting what you get out of this, like in tequila or Mezcal?
[00:09:27] Speaker B: Yeah. So. So once the. The cooling period is done, we go through a shredder that kind of, you know, breaks down the plant into smaller pieces. From that stage, our plant is then placed into stainless steel vats. And along with some natural yeast from the area, we. Everything that we do is all natural to this area. So we're not bringing in yeast from outside. We're using yeast that. That's. That's produced right there locally. Our product sits in stainless steel vats with natural yeast for about 21 days. And I want to highlight that we are open air fermented. So we leave the windows open during this process. And next door to our distillery is a pecan farm.
So during this process, where the fermentation is occurring, the pecan fumes, they blow downhill, settle on top of the. The plant and the yeast and. And work its way through the yeast during fermentation. And so we talked about that. That you have like a smoky characteristic. The plant inherently has a minerality, some citrus, a fruitiness to it. The back end is kind of a subtle, sweet, nutty finish. And so all these things combined, we feel that we have a very unique flavor profile with our sotol. And, you know, it's. I'm not saying that that's a better thing or a worse thing. I'm just saying it's different. And I Of people, like different and. And they can settle into that.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: That's pretty. That's pretty awesome. It's. You know, we talk about terroir in tequila and mezcal and of course, wine, but it sounds like you have it here in sotol as well, based on where your plant grows and then obviously your wild fermentation. So that's really interesting.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And, you know, we've been.
We're new to this, and so we are. We're learning as we go. And. And I think that. That we've all been. Been pleased with. With how the first flavor profile and everything has turned out with our first skew. But yeah, Brad, we're learning as we go. So, you know, based on the time of year when we're harvesting, temperature, climate, rain patterns, those sorts of things, they can obviously impact the plant in the sense of the sugar content. And so as we go, we are learning that we have our time of year where we really think is optimal for harvesting. And we're going to start storing our product in. In vats to. During that time of year. So we just have the most consistency out of our product, every single batch.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: Gotcha. Now what are you doing for distillation?
[00:11:56] Speaker B: We are double distilled through copper alembic.
[00:11:59] Speaker A: Gotcha. And then after you've distilled. So we've. We've ripped this plant out of the ground and we've molecularly tore it up. And now you've distilled it. Are you going straight into bottles? Are you resting this a little bit before you bottle, or does. Does it require that like some tequilas do?
[00:12:16] Speaker B: Yeah, it's rested for a period of time. So what we have done for the first two batches that we've kind of pushed out is we've been present to do the tasting almost immediately after it's distilled, and then we will be back in 21 days or so to taste it again, profile it. At that point, we are dropping down to the 40% ABV, which is what goes in our bottles, and we're bottling shortly after that.
[00:12:44] Speaker A: Wow. Are you doing any kind of oxygenation or aeration or are you just letting it rest?
[00:12:49] Speaker B: Just letting it rest.
[00:12:51] Speaker A: And then the water that you're using, is it like a deep well water or a demineralized water?
[00:12:58] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a great question. We are well water. And one thing that I would just note on that is that we are lab tested. So every single one of our batches, We're a member of the Sotol Council of Mexico. We're lab testing. And again, it goes back to trying to have as consistent of results with every single batch that we're producing. And I think it's a little bit maybe more difficult in Sotol because the plants could be sourced 10 miles from one batch versus the other batch. We're talking about maybe different times a year. We're talking about different variations that could lead to variability. But the well water we do test, the, the ph level is, is made consistent. And so that's, that's one of the factors that, that we're trying to ensure is consistent from batch to batch. And, and I guess that's a question that I had for you. When you tested it, did you get some of the minerality out of it? Like, would you have guessed that this came from a well water source?
[00:13:58] Speaker A: I. I did get a lot of minerality. So my guess was it was some type of well water because I had like a little bit of a limestone type mineral to it and then just some basic minerality. And I poured it in two different glasses because to me, it, it really had two different noses based on the glass that I drank it out of. You know, the regular Glen Karen. I can get minerality and a fruitiness in just the nose of this and in this. Honestly, the first time I took a nose of it was all campfire. Like I got that smoke right on the top. And it's also what I expecting. I'd like. So to me, when you go into something, you have these expectations and of course that's the taste that you find. So I, I went into it, I got this campfire smell at first and I, I waited and I came back again and that's what I got. This minerality and a little bit of fruitiness. And it's funny that you say the pecan because in the finish it, to me it had this creamy, nutty type flavor. And not knowing so tall, I didn't know if that was just a normal like finish to it. So that, that's really neat how that comes through from, you know, your open fermentation. Because I did get like A nutty, creamy. I, I was having trouble explaining it to my wife. It's like, it's creamy, but it's nutty. And it's, it's also a little herbal at the end too. So it went from mineral, a lot of minerality, to more of an opened up herbal, like nutty flavor in the finish, which I really liked. And the smoke is, the smoke's there, of course. You know, you get that, you know, smoke in the front and it kind of dissipates. And then, then I have a little bit in the finish as well. But in the finish, it was more pleasant to me in the finish than it is in the front. It is very enjoyable to drink. And I also made a spicy margarita out of it. So I used an ounce and a half of this and an ounce and a half of a high proof tequila with a really good additive free tequila mixer that I get from one of the brands that I work with. And it's already like a great tequila by itself. So adding a little spice to it and then the smoke with the spice and the flavors that are there was, it was a great, really great margarita. So it definitely can highlight in a cocktail for sure. I can see that.
[00:16:19] Speaker B: Yeah. We have to be completely honest with you. We've been very pleasantly surprised with how well it stood up in cocktails. And initially we're thinking we're making a Mexican distillate. We need to talk to restaurants about, hey, what, like what you just talked about, Brad, like a margarita substitute or a variation of a margarita or a Paloma, those sorts of things. And we are absolutely in restaurants on those exact drinks. But we're also being featured in old fashions as a Negroni substitute as a Mother's Day is coming up. And we're, we're, we're partnering with a couple of restaurants in different markets where they're doing French 75, but it's called Sotol 75. So they're substituting out the gin for, for our Sotol. And so it's, it's really been amazing to see kind of this, this evolution of. It's not us who are coming up with these ideas. It's us going to bars and meeting mixologists who are talented. And they are saying based on what I'm, what my flavor profile is picking up, I think that we could mess with it and do this, do X, Y or Z and they'll throw it on the menu. And, and they're like, people are responding to it. They're something that they haven't had and they're curious. So, yeah, it's been that. That's been a lot of fun.
[00:17:37] Speaker A: These mixologists that like my. My idea of being a mixologist is I just pour a little extra alcohol in a glass, and that's what I drink. I'm not a bartender by any means. I. Sometimes I do drinks on the show, and it's. It's the easiest kind of drink. But these guys that can do this, and I say guys, guys and gals that are these great mixologists comes up, they come up with these amazing flavors that highlight, like, each thing in the glass. And this. This would be excellent in so many of their drinks, I guarantee it. I'm going to take it to one of my buddies at a local bar and let him make something there because he. He's from Alisco, he's won several contests, and he's actually. He's from around us. He's here in Indy, and he does a great job. He'll dig it.
[00:18:21] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. They are really talented. And so I just want to say, Brian, I'm exactly with you. I am one of the founders of an alcohol brand, and people think that I can make amazing cocktails because of that. That couldn't be further from the truth. Right. I'm the guy who doesn't want to be behind the bar. And funny story, sold to Noches. We just launched in Minnesota at the beginning of February. And so the distributor there, they had us kind of lined up, and it was a great schedule. They had us, like, very productive, going from place to place, meeting people, doing events. And so we had done events. I think we had been meeting from 9:00 in the morning until about 3 in the afternoon. And then the sales rep, Shauna, she's like, oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you that we're going back to our warehouse now, and you're going to be making three cocktails of your choice for 40 to 60 people. And I'm like, what? And I'm like, yeah, that's hilarious. She's like, no, I'm dead serious. You have 30 minutes. And she's like, head back now and grab whatever you need from behind the bar and start mixing some stuff up. I'm like, wow.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:19:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:28] Speaker A: I would be able to make a batch drink for them. It would be here. This is my only ingredient. We're just going to batch out 40 drinks out of this.
[00:19:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, you know, would you say it's cheating if I'm like, okay, I have to make three cocktails? One of Those three. Let's just try this neat and see how it's going. Exactly. Yes. Are you up there? And. Yeah, that's the route I went down.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: Number two is some pineapple juice. Number three is orange juice. There you go. There's your three drinks.
[00:19:55] Speaker B: Exactly. Yes. Yes. All right. We're on the same level with that.
[00:19:59] Speaker A: It actually might taste good with a tropical red bull. The yellow Red bull. I bet that would be a good combo. So there's a pork.
[00:20:06] Speaker B: You might be the mixologist that we need for our next cocktail.
[00:20:09] Speaker A: There you go. All right, so tell me a little bit about what I'm going to call the sordid past of Sotol, because some of the stories I've heard that go back to prohibition really romanticized this spirit a little bit for me, because it. It. It's got a really, really cool history. So if you could share some of that, that'd be really cool.
[00:20:31] Speaker B: Yeah. So I'm gonna touch just briefly on the real old history, and then we'll move more to, like, more modern times, if that's all right. But. So Toll has been around for. For 800, 900 years, at least in Mexico. And it used to be called the desert spoon because the indigenous people would quite literally break off the leaves of the plant, and they would use it as a. As a spoon and eating apparatus. And, of course, people figured out that you can just. You can ferment and turn into alcohol. And so. So Toll has been around a long time now, flashing a little bit forward past prohibition, when everything became legalized again. So Toll was still illegal. And so Sotol did not get legalized in Mexico until the 90s. So when we talk about, you know, Sotol is maybe the oldest distillate coming out of Mexico, but it's the most recent or certainly one of the most recently known categories coming out of Mexico to say people in the United States. The reason for that is because it's only been available for consumption or purchase for maybe 30 years at this point. The. The story was so told, though, how it carried on, and it was able to persevere, survive through those 60 years from after prohibition until the 90s when it was legalized, is a really cool story. And that's actually how Sotu Noches, the founding team, fell in love with Sotol. We are at a mezcal tasting, actually, in Mexico, and after we had had four or five different mezcalis, we were saying, hey, do you have anything different? Because, you know, mezcal is wonderful. It's just after you drink so many of them, it just overwhelms the palate. And so he said, yeah, let me. Let me get you something. And he pulls this bottle. It's just like a five gallon. It looks like almost like a little gallo wine jug.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:33] Speaker B: You know, like the ones that you can get for 10 bucks or whatever for. For the three liters. And he pulls us out of the earth, and he's like, just try it. I'm not going to tell you what it is. Just try it. We tried it, and it was. It was amazing. It was smooth, had a supple finish, very earth forward.
And so it was at that time that we said, Juan is one of the founders as well. He grew up around Chihuahua, Juarez area. And so he was like, is this a sotol? And the guy said, it actually is. How did you know that? And so we had that conversation. But the cool thing about what that guy did that night was that he educated us in that. For the 60 years when SOTOL was not legalized, these sotoleros would hide their utensils and actually the product in these fake burials called interros. And so when the police would come to raid their distilleries, they would say, oh, like, why are you standing on my grandmother's grave? It's so disrespectful to them.
[00:23:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:38] Speaker B: You know that the police, they would say, hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect. And they would leave and never came back. So these soltaleros were able to bootleg and literally sell underground product for 60 years.
Our Master Soltero is fourth generation, and so he definitely partook in that. His family did. And every year, his distillery does this party. It's called Interro Party. And so told, producers from anywhere are welcome. And we dig up the bottle that was. That we dropped in there last year, and then we'll drop a new bottle in for next year. And so it's just. It's a beautiful story. You know, it's.
It's not as sexy, maybe, as some of the other alcohol categories out there, but. But the story is. Is of hard work, is of perseverance. And, you know, we. We're. We're proud to be a part of that history.
[00:24:31] Speaker A: Oh, that's very cool. That's like the. The heart of the moonshiner. Like, when you think about really what they did, they were like, they're like the moonshiners of a Mexican spirit. That's super cool.
[00:24:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And to many degrees, that's true.
[00:24:45] Speaker A: Right?
[00:24:45] Speaker B: So they're bootlegging it. Al Capone would go down to Mexico and and he would smuggle so tol and Mexican whiskey across the border. Now what he sold that as once he crossed the border, I don't know what he called it, but, you know, it was Al Capone and he was moving alcohol. If you wanted alcohol, he was the guy who could get it for you.
[00:25:02] Speaker A: Wow, that's really cool. That's some of the stories I read about. And I was like, that is just so cool. We, you know, we get caught up watching like these moonshiner shows that are on TV today, where people are making, you know, real moonshine, or you have, you know, you go to Tennessee and drink some of the moonshine, you know, to have part of that history. And you're doing the same thing, bringing this great history, but a much more complex flavored spirit than just drinking some flavor infused moonshine from Gatlinburg.
[00:25:31] Speaker B: We like to think. We hope so.
[00:25:33] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. So when you guys are doing sotol, like, you know, we talk about mezcal or tequila or racia, where mezcal and ricea are usually a higher proof. Is so tall normally a higher proofed spirit as well, or is it usually at the 40 ABV?
[00:25:50] Speaker B: So I've seen it both ways.
And actually we started initially when we were flavor profiling, we were looking at around 45% ABV. We tried as low as 38%.
Florida Desierto does 48%. And then I've seen, I think Los Magos, their ensemble de sotoles, they're doing 38%. So, you know, for us it came back to what would, what do we want to put in a bottle? So our name is SOT no Chase. It's about going from sun to nights, losing track of time because of the memories and the great times that we're having together. So we wanted to put into our bottle something that is approachable, that you want to come back and have another that, you know, you can have in a cocktail or you can have neat, but you can pass a lot of time doing that. And so we thought that 40% for us was a good balance in that. Now that we're seeing a little success and the market is responding well to our liquid flavor profile, we want to start experimenting, we want to do a high proof, start doing some aging. And those are the fun things, I think to us as the founding team, where we are like, we're, we're happy, we're proud of the first product, the Soto Blanco, that we put out. But let's also. Let's try and do some fun things. Let's try and. And build on this momentum. Let's try and. And get some fun stuff out there that maybe people haven't tried. But part of. Part of Sotol is that. That a lot of people still don't know about it. And so we wanted something that's approachable, that people would be willing to try. And they say, hey, that's not bad. What else do you guys have in your product line?
[00:27:28] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That's kind of what I was going to ask. 1. This, to me, is very approachable. For a tequila drinker who doesn't drink a lot of mezcala racias or bacanoras. I'm pretty much just a tequila guy. This. This is very approachable, is easy for me to drink. There was, like I said, a lot of complexity, and it was great in a. But honestly, for me, I probably wouldn't put it in a drink. This is something that I would sit and sip. And that was. My next question was about aging. You know, you don't see a lot of aged mezcals. You're starting to see that more historically, is Sotol something that is aged, or is that something that's being done because other products are aged?
[00:28:08] Speaker B: Yeah, so it's a good question. And the reason I say that, Brad, is because I think that that Sotol that is available for consumption, if I go to a large liquor store, I'm probably gonna see, I don't know, 10, maybe 10 brands of Sotol. Nine of those. 10 or 10 of those 10 are going to be the. The blanco, the unaged. And so. But I. I don't think that's because it doesn't age. I don't think it's because it doesn't age well. I think it's just because it's a new category, and I think that people have started introducing it to the market, and it takes time to age. And it. Like. Like, for us, for example, we've started experimenting with how it ages in different wood and different lengths of time. That takes time. And so, like a repo, we can say, yeah, reposado is three months to 12 months. But for us, that doesn't mean that we're going to have a product to market in three months. That means that we're going to spend the better part of a year testing, going back and forth, figuring out flavor profile, messing with the wood, seeing how long is the appropriate time to age. Because, you know, I think that one Thing that is so beautiful about agave, and as you said, us agave adjacent, is that the plant is so delicious inherently. And so the last thing that I think our team wants to do is drop this beautiful tasting plant into brand new American oak and have it coming tasting like oak. You know, like, we want some balance. And so, yeah, I mean, that's a really long winded way of answering your question. But. But I think it's just that it hasn't come to market yet. I think that people are working on it. We're experimenting a little bit right now. I know some other makers who are also experimenting, and I think it will.
[00:29:46] Speaker A: Come, you know, based on the flavor profile, I think, like, a wine cast barrel would really complement the flavors here because. And I'm not a wine person personally, but the way wine affects tequila, I think would even have a better effect in this. Personally, it would bring a richerness. I think it would bring out some of that fruitiness that you already have. And it. And the. The dryness and the finish that you get from some of the. The wine cast or like a rose cast. I think that'd be a really cool thing to age this in.
[00:30:20] Speaker B: So it's. I think it's extremely interesting you just mentioned that. Stay tuned a little bit. We will make sure that you are one of the very first people to taste, and you can tell us if it's terrible or if you like it. But I just think that, you know, for the viewers out there, Brad and I had no conversation.
[00:30:35] Speaker A: No.
[00:30:36] Speaker B: Yeah, so. So it's so interesting that you just said that, because. Yeah, we'll definitely be in talks with that with you.
[00:30:43] Speaker A: There you go. Stay tuned, everybody. That's something cool coming. Okay, so what about regulatory stuff? You know, tequila is one of the most regular regulated drinks there is with the CRT and all the stuff going on with that. And, you know, there's a nom number, you know, for mezcal today and a similar regulatory commission. Do we have that with Sotol as well?
[00:31:04] Speaker B: Not. Not officially. And so I think, Brad, that that's one of those things that as Sotol grows in popularity and gains some more notoriety, I think that some of those things will start happening. What I can tell you is that proactively, so to Noches, we've signed up with the Sotol Council of Mexico, and so we pay to be a member of that. Part of that comes with lab testing that ensures that our plants are sourced from areas by farmers who are trained in harvesting. And so we've tried to be proactive on that to try and make our product as credible and as official as possible. The other thing is that numerous countries recognize Sotol as a category as a denomination of origin. The United States does not currently. They did prior to President Trump disavowing or not agreeing to terms of the signed NAFTA agreement. And so that allows makers in states like Texas, for example, to make Sotol and call it Sotol. I also think that that's a political battle that's obviously levels above where we are at as just a lowly, small batch Sotol maker. But I do think, Brad, that as Sotol continues to expand as a category, that Mexico will definitely look to re establish that denomination of origin.
[00:32:24] Speaker A: Gotcha. Yeah, I knew it had a dom, but I didn't really know the background behind it. And, you know, at least you don't have some of the regulatory things that you hear so many of the Tequila people actually complain about. Right. You don't have to have that piece.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think there's good and bad with everything. Right. And I think that the, the whole purpose, as I understand a lot of those regulations behind Tequila, it serves good purpose. And maybe some of those get lost in translation and they become kind of like too cumbersome and it makes it really hard for a producer to be able to do their job and get out a product as intended. So there's a fine line. Absolutely. With that because the alternative is that we're producing moonshine and throwing in bottles and putting a label on it and you don't know what you're putting into your body. So that's, that's the, the flip side of it. And we don't want either of those extremes. We want to be in the middle and somewhere safe.
[00:33:18] Speaker A: It's nice to be in a category that doesn't have, you know, a regulatory commission that's funded by the brands and have the behemoth money making brands control that, that you're still in a, in a category that I'm sure you guys all work together, I'm sure you all know each other. I mean, in the tequila world, I'm amazed at the amount of friendships that are from brand to brand and how they really support each other. And I'm sure you guys are probably in that same type of industry where people are supporting one another to grow the category.
[00:33:50] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so. And, and we've talked about this a couple times during this. I think that it's, it's education that's paramount right now. We could have the most amazing Spirit out there. And it doesn't matter, right. If people don't know what it is. If they don't know that they're not going to order it at a restaurant because they're unfamiliar with it, they're likely not going to order it. And they're certainly not going to go to a liquor store and pick up a bottle and pay $50 for something that they have no idea what it is. So the education right now, I think, is the most important part. And then I think that. That. That from there, you kind of. You just let the. The. The factors play out. Right. Like, once people know what. What sotol is, if they have an interest in it, if they go to buy it, then let them choose which product they like most. And. And the. The one thing that I've said this entire time since we've started our brand is that it's really irrelevant what we think we put into the bottle. Like, as far as, like, our flavor profile, what matters. The market will tell us if we have a good liquid or not a good liquid. And so, yeah, what you said is exactly right, that we can all work together with different suppliers and different makers right now, and ultimately, the consumer can decide what they like best.
[00:35:03] Speaker A: Yeah. I have people that don't even understand tequila that come over to my bar and have drinks, and then I'll pull out a mezcal, and they're like, they have no idea what that is. And now I have this to share as well, to talk about. And it is that education piece of showing people what different flavor profiles can come from different plants. And it's. It's really good. I'm. I'm impressed by it. I was a little bit skeptical because I've only had one other sotol, and to me, it was really smoky, and I didn't pick up a lot of really complex flavors out of it. I liked it, but I don't know that I would have went back to it and drank it again. Where this one, I would. I sip on it. It's good. It's got a lot of deepness to it. My daughter is a smoky scotch drinker, and I gave her this just the other night, and she was. She's like, oh, I get this great smokiness, but so many more flavor. So I was like, why? Just won her over in one glass. I think it definitely has a great place in the market and a great group of people that will come from scotch and whiskeys over to a great sipping soto.
[00:36:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, thank you, guys.
That's humbling. To hear, you know, we.
Especially as a. As a startup company where we started selling in July, so we only have, what, nine or ten months under our belt.
It's great to hear positive feedback and we listen to the negative feedback as well. Right. There's billions of people in the world and there's different palettes, and so we try to just kind of be neutral and listen to the good and the bad, and we'll just keep working to move forward.
[00:36:53] Speaker A: Well, if you're like me, I read all my comments on every social media piece I have out there, and for some reason, the good comments are nice and the bad comments just hit you to the heart. I don't know if there's people that make bad comments know how bad it hurts.
[00:37:09] Speaker B: You're. You're exactly right. And I don't know why that is. You can have 10 good comments, but, like, it's the one bad comment that I'm going to talk about with our next team meeting. And yeah, that's just the way it goes.
[00:37:20] Speaker A: It's the one I think about when I'm going to sleep. He's like, oh, that guy's mad that I said around us wrong.
[00:37:25] Speaker B: Yeah. But, you know, at the same time, I think that I would rather be the way that you just said versus not care about, you know, any of the constructive criticism or whatever you want to call it. Shows we're trying to get better every day. That's good.
[00:37:39] Speaker A: You know, I've always said people that take, you know, get upset about those things or people that, you know, really have emotion when something goes wrong, it says they care. And that's. That's where I'm at. I really care about this. I care about the companies. I care about the people and the tradition. And so when I get something wrong and somebody points it out, I'm like, damn. But really, it does hit hard. And it's because you care, and that's. You want to bring a great product to people and you care, and that's what's important.
So tell me, where can people go to find this product?
[00:38:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. So. So first and foremost, we can ship from our website. If you just go to our website, you can order, we can ship to.
I think it's like 44 states out of the 50, so almost anywhere. We are distributing now in six states. So we are in Colorado, California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, and Minnesota. And so. So that's where we're at right now. And I think that. So I was kind of talking with our team about this last week before Before I knew that I was coming on here, I think that. That we'll run a promo with free shipping and a discount. So. So, yeah, if you just go check out Sol 2 no chase in the upcoming days, you'll see that.
[00:38:47] Speaker A: Awesome. And we'll put the website, it's flashing right here, right now. So we'll have that on there for everybody.
[00:38:52] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:38:52] Speaker A: And you got some good social media as well. Where can you be found on social media?
[00:38:56] Speaker B: Yep. So our handle at the social medias is just old Chase. So SOL the number two and then no Chase is N O C H E S.
Awesome.
[00:39:08] Speaker A: So I asked this question to everybody that has a brand, and this is one of my favorite questions to ask because you've. You've put your heart and soul into this. You've worked hard to create something that's part of you. So if you could sit down and share a glass with this, with anybody, anybody you can think of, alive, dead, historical, not family famous, whatever, who would be the most fun for you to sit down, crack a bottle of this and tell them about your journey and really what this product is? Who would they be? That person.
[00:39:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
So. So a couple things on that, and I guess the answer is that, that. And we had an opportunity to do this at our launch party with my dad and my grandpa. And the reason I say my dad and my grandpa, like, out of anyone, is that we did a lot of projects throughout the years together, you know, to make a buck here, three bucks here, whatever. And we eventually, like, got to the point of. And this was in mostly real estate, like flipping homes. And so, you know, my grandpa, it wasn't. It wasn't much, but he gave us like, a little seed money for the first home that I ever flipped. And then I always did those with my dad and my family, and it was always a family project. And so it was that seed money that my grandpa, who's like the most conservative guy that you will ever meet, wears like, you know, jeans from Kmart, won't pay to get a haircut, has the same shirts for 30 years.
It was. It was him who kind of opened the door to allow us to be able to have this opportunity to develop this liquid.
[00:40:37] Speaker A: That's very cool. And that's number one answer, Grandpa, like, that seems to be the one that everybody comes back to, so that's really cool. I didn't know you had a background in some real estate. You know, I'm a mortgage guy for a living, so. Yeah, that's very cool.
[00:40:50] Speaker B: How. How's business on that front, the mortgage business is awesome.
[00:40:55] Speaker A: I've been doing this for 27 years and I have a great referral base and a lot of great customers and it's, it's been very consistent and that's, you know, that's, it's been a good thing. So I love it. This is more fun though, having these products and tasting this tequila and tequila adjacent products. This is the most fun for me. So this doesn't pay the bills though. This, this is just all about fun.
[00:41:18] Speaker B: No, no, no. Well, I hope you get to the point where it's going to pay the bills for you. I'm, I don't know where I'm at on, on that, on that thought process, because I know that it's a, it's a money commitment, right? Like in the alcohol business, it's, it's whatever you make, you really put back in. You're reinvesting into it. And if you talk to almost maker, I think they tell you there's a fine line between like, am I onto something or am I crazy? And depending on the day, I don't know which one of those I am. Everyone on our team, Daisy, my wife, Adriana and Juan, they would tell you the same exact thing that are we crazy, are we stupid, or are we onto something? I don't know.
[00:41:57] Speaker A: I think you're on to something. And, you know, the key to that is you're, you're working your passion. And what I do in the mortgage business, I truly love it. I wake up every day and I like to do what I do, so I don't feel like I'm working. And if you're chasing a passion, a dream, and you're really more, more of chasing something that you can teach people and share a great product with, the money will come all on its own. I've, I've had a philosophy my whole life is if I can help other people get what they want, I'll inevitably get what I want. But if I chase what I want, it doesn't work. And I think you've put together a phenomenal product. I love the name. The bottle's cool, the logo is, is simple, it is interesting and it evokes question of what it is. And I think that's important because when I look at the label and, and I can say to myself, hey, handcrafted, what Mexican spirit? What is this? You know, I want to try it. That, that's, that's invokes people to move forward. You're in a great price point and you have a great product, so I think you're doing a phenomenal job. It's really cool to be able to share it and talk about it here.
[00:42:56] Speaker B: Well, thanks. And. And I love what you just said about trying to help others. And then if you continue to help others, then. Then what. What you want will come. I think that that's something that the world could use. Def know, that's. That's a great thing.
[00:43:09] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. I don't know how to get everybody to think that way, but the ones that figure it out, you can always. You always know which ones those are, so.
[00:43:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:43:17] Speaker A: Well, I definitely appreciate you taking your time today and coming on. I think this was an extremely informative video for our tequila people to see. A product that is, like we said earlier, agave adjacent, but made with such a Mexican heritage and traditional and an amazing plant as well, that turns into, you know, an absolutely awesome spirit. And thanks for. Thanks for taking your time and bringing this spirit to everybody.
[00:43:44] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much for having soltunoches on here, and it's an absolute honor for us. Do I. Do I get the honor of at least doing a cheers with you before we drop off or.
[00:43:54] Speaker A: Absolutely, because I've got a little bit left.
[00:43:57] Speaker B: All right, well, Brad, salud. Thank you so much.
[00:44:01] Speaker A: Salud. Cheers, my friend. Thanks for coming on tonight.
[00:44:04] Speaker B: Thank you very much.
[00:44:05] Speaker A: Smells so good.
