The universe of Mexican spirits carries many bright stars beyond tequila and mezcal. Sotol, a spirit made from the Dasylirion plant, also known as the desert spoon, is carving out a respectable name for itself. So much so that it could potentially follow the celebrity path of tequila one day.

American singer Lenny Kravitz has chosen to get in early on the sotol action with Nocheluna sotol, a product with the tagline of wild spirit for wild spirits. 

Brand Story

Nocheluna was created by Casa Lumbre, a well-established coalition of Mexican spirit aficionados who have the likes of Ivan Saldana Oyarzabal, the founder of Montelobos mezcal at the helm as a co-founder and master distiller. Specifically, the producers of the product from Casa Lumbre are him and Don Eduardo ‘Lalo’ Arrieta alongside sotol educator Ricardo Pico and backed by Lenny Kravitz as the face of the brand.

Kravitz partnered with Casa Lumbre after hearing about sotol while he was shooting a film with Jennifer Lopez called Shotgun Wedding. He told the Spirits Business “I got a secret sample sent to me in an unmarked bottle with a sticker on it, it’s in writing, and I had been told what it was but I was not knowledgeable about sotol. I knew that sotol was somewhere in the family of mezcal or tequila, but not. I opened it up, took a sip of it neat, and I was immediately intrigued by the flavour.”

From there, Kravitz made a trip to Chihuahua, Mexico to meet the producers. “On that trip, it worked out that I partnered with those people, those generations of families who make sotol, in a very organic situation. I met some really wonderful human beings, and this is their art form, their culture, their families, and I just want to be a part of introducing that to the wider world. So that’s what I did; that’s where we are right now.”

Presentation

Nocheluna as a name was inspired by desert spoons growing out in the Chihuahuan desert at night. Kravitz has explained “When you’re out there in the desert, you’re under the moon, under the stars, under the sky, it’s quite surreal – you’re in the middle of nowhere. It’s like you’re in outer space.

“We wanted to have a Spanish name, and ‘noche’ and ‘luna’ are two words that pretty much anybody with any basic Spanish knowledge at all will understand. And then we came out of our meeting in the Bahamas, we walked outside and the full moon was over our heads. So we knew we’d chosen the right name. It was about the atmosphere where the sotol is grown, and two identifiable words.”

The lunar theme is present on the bottle. A black strip with the brand name on is decorated with a scarred moon, while the name is also etched into the glass of the bottle as well. On the back of the label, there’s a picture of what the desert spoon looks like and a map of where Chihuahua is in Mexico with exact coordinates.

Tasting Notes 

Nocheluna sotol is as wild tasting as it sounds and that’s a good thing for me. At 43% ABV, there’s a lightness to it that is pretty much the only basic thing about it in terms of flavour. What follows is a complex and heady mix of basil, oak and grass on the first sip. After another sip, mint and bubblegum sneak in, topped off with toast.

The first time I tried Nocheluna I had to take a few breaks to identify these flavours because it really is like nothing I’d ever tasted before. Once I’d got used to that, the mint transitioned into notes of honey, black pepper, honey and herbs. Definitely more vivid and quaffable with every new sip.

Based on this experience, I’d expect Nocheluna will be an acquired taste for some. It’s damn sure become an acquired taste for me and it’s an interesting gateway into the wider sotol category.