Here's The Subtle Difference Between Mezcal And Sotol

If you love spirits from the Southwest and Mexico you've likely become a fan of mezcal in recent years, but another liquor with some interesting differences named sotol hasn't been far behind it. As tequila's popularity has exploded in the U.S. — surpassing whiskey to become the second best selling spirit behind vodka — interest in other regional liquors distilled from the agave plant has followed. Mezcal was the first to be embraced north of the border, as the spirit is directly related to tequila and shares a similar flavor profile with its additional signature smokiness. Mezcal is actually the original agave liquor, predating even tequila, and has been brewed by family distillers since the 16th century. But over the last decade bartenders and distillers have discovered another hidden gem: Sotol.

Despite its own long history, sotol has remained mostly a small batch regional drink, which is made in the Northern Mexican states of Chihuahua, Durango and Coahuila, with smaller scale production in the border regions of Texas and New Mexico. The big thing that makes sotol different from mezcal is the plant it's brewed from; instead of agave, it uses a related plant named dasylirion, which is also called desert spoon in English, or sotol in Spanish. While sotol shares some production similarities with mezcal, the base is a different plant that grows in unique climates and produces a spirit with a truly unique flavor.

Unlike tequila, which can only be made from blue agave, different varieties of mezcal can be made from many different types of agave, and likewise sotol is made from many of the dozen plus species of dasylirion. It's a sharp, ball-shaped plant of green stalks, similar in appearance to yucca. Different types of dasylirion grow all through the Chihuahuan Desert that forms the heartland of sotol production, which is a region that contains many highly diverse landscapes and climates. It can grow in arid deserts, vast grasslands, and highland forests, with each different region the plant grows in giving the sotol a complex and distinctive flavor.

While the plant it originates from is different, the process of making sotol is quite similar to mezcal. To start, the dense inner core of the plant is harvested. The heart, called the piña, is roasted in adobe ovens with hardwood, similar to how mezcal's agave is smoked, which gives sotol some smoky notes similar to its cousin. The softened piña is then ground into pulp and pressed to produce a sweet sap. The sap is fermented for up to a week, and then sent to be distilled in sotol. However, unlike agave where the roots of the plant are destroyed by harvesting, dasylirion production doesn't harm the roots, so some species of dasylirion can survive and regrow after the core has been harvested.

Dasylirion is heavily influenced by the climate in which it grows, which means sotols can take on very different flavor profiles depending on the region and producer. Because of the roasting, sotol will taste smoky, but not as smoky as mezcal. The basic taste of sotol evokes the brightness and light fruit notes of tequila. But more so than either of its cousins, sotol has a crisp lightness to it, tasting grassy with some additional pine-forward notes. It's almost like a cross between tequila, mezcal, and gin.

But sotol can be so much more. Bottles that are produced with dasylirion grown in the desert tend to be more earthy and spicy. They can have notes of minerals, herbs, cacao, and pepper. Sotol produced from wetter forest regions is more fresh tasting, with flavors like menthol, eucalyptus, and mint. Producers can also combine dasylirion from different regions to get a mix of flavors from each.

Do to its mix of mezcal flavors and gin's herbaceousness, sotol can be substituted in tequila and mezcal cocktails or for gin if you would like to try it out. Simple cocktails like a margarita or Tom Collins can be a great place to start. But like tasting mezcal, good sotol is made to be sipped, and that might be the best way to sample its amazing complexity.