In the high desert slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, the Perez family has operated Compania Elaboradora de Sotol for six generations.
Among the first examples of this historic Mexican spirit to reach the US market, their Sotol Por Siempre is distilled from the hearts of wild-harvested sotol (also known as the desert spoon, or cucharilla), a relative of the agave and a vital desert plant that has sustained the peoples of Southwestern North America for thousands of years. Unlike agave, sotol plants have multiple reproductive cycles, and if a root structure is left intact at harvest the plant can regrow over 8–15 years. One root system can yield multiple harvests before sugars are too low to produce quality alcohol and the plant must be allowed to go to seed.
- Sotol produced by Sotol Por Siempre in Chihuahua, Mexico
- Maestro Sotolero Jacob Jacquez
- 100% sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri)
- Cooked in an earthen pit
- Fermented in open-air wooden vats (tinas)
- Distilled twice using traditional wood-fired copper pot stills
- Opening with bright citrus and white flowers, Sotol por Siempre quickly shifts gears, becoming herbal and vegetal on the palate, with an intense note of damp, freshly turned earth, subtle smoke, black pepper and pine sap
- 45% ABV
Sotol por Siempre is produced from 100% Dasylirion wheeleri, the highest-growing and most herbaceous, resinous iteration of the plant.