Sotol La Higuera Cedrosanum

Sotol La Higuera Cedrosanum is a young, unaged sotol built entirely on Dasylirion cedrosanum, a grassland and scrub species of the Chihuahuan desert. Dasylirion, the desert spoon, is not an agave but a separate desert plant, so this belongs with sotol rather than mezcal or any agave spirit. Cedrosanum is one of the principal sotol species and reads earthier, more vegetal and mineral than the woodland wheeleri.

The plants are cooked in a conical oven in the open air, then split by hand with axes, all of it manual work. The freed fibres ferment naturally on wild yeast in 1,000 litre pine vats before a double distillation in copper alembic stills. Mineral and caramel notes lead on the nose, the palate turns to smoked grass and cedar, and the finish is precise and dry with a balanced texture. Bottled at 48%.