Desert Door Original Texas Sotol 80 Proof
Desert Door Original Texas Sotol 80 Proof is a 40% ABV (80 proof) Texas sotol in a 750mL bottle — wild-harvested in the Chihuahuan Desert and distilled at Desert Door Distillery in Driftwood, Texas, just outside Austin. Founded in 2017 by three military veterans who discovered the sotol plant in West Texas, Desert Door became the country's first commercial producer of Texas sotol, and this Original is the foundation of everything they make: sotol plants 10–15 years old, wild-harvested with no water, fertilizer or pesticides, steam-cooked, fermented five to six days with a proprietary organic yeast, and distilled to a high proof in a custom hybrid still. If tequila had a smoother, more flavorful, sustainable cousin from Texas, this is it. Order it online at Del Mesa Liquor.
- ABV: 40% (80 proof)
- Size: 750mL
- Plant: dasylirion texanum (desert spoon), wild-harvested, 10–15 year old plants
- Process: steam-cooked, proprietary organic yeast, custom hybrid still, unaged
- Origin: Desert Door Distillery, Driftwood, Texas (founded 2017)
- Awards: Gold Medal, Denver International Spirits Competition 2020
The Wild Spirit of Texas
Sotol is not agave — it is its own thing, and Texas has its own native species, dasylirion texanum, thriving on the 8,000-acre Desert Door Ranch outside Dryden where crude fermentation pits and stone cooking ovens hundreds of years old still mark the land. The Original drinks like a premium blanco tequila with a Texas accent: bright vanilla and green grass on the nose, rich toffee, mint and orange zest on the palate, sage underneath, and the custard-smooth finish that is the house signature. Three ingredients — wild sotol, purified water, organic yeast — and nothing else. Explore sotol, agave spirits and more from Desert Door at Del Mesa Liquor.
Tasting Notes
Nose: bright vanilla, green grass, a familiar blanco-tequila lift. Palate: rich viscosity — toffee, mint, orange zest, subtle sage. Finish: custard-smooth, cleaner and softer than tequila.
How to Enjoy
Neat or over a single cube to taste the Texas desert, or swap it for blanco tequila or any clear spirit in cocktails — it pairs beautifully with grilled seafood, roasted vegetables and Southwestern cooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is sotol? A spirit distilled from the sotol (desert spoon) plant, a grass-like desert shrub — not an agave, and Texas has its own native species.
Is Desert Door like tequila? It drinks familiarly — bright, grassy, agave-adjacent — but smoother, mintier and unmistakably Texan.
How strong is it? 80 proof (40% ABV), 750mL, unaged.
A smoother, wilder cousin of tequila — order Desert Door Original Texas Sotol online from Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA.