There's a new spirit in town.

Texas' moonshine hooch is making a splash. The spirit, called sotol, is made from the evergreen sotol (also known as desert spoon), a plant that thrives in Mexico's high desert and the arid Trans-Pecos region of far West Texas.

When the Spanish arrived in what is now Mexico, they taught the natives how to distill the Sotol plant into a spirit similar to what is available from Desert Door today.

A kissing cousin of tequila and soul sister of mezcal, the earthy and smooth liquor made by Desert Door is the only American distillery making sotol. Based in Driftwood — known for giving the world The Salt Lick BBQ — Desert Door makes it’s sotol utilizing wild-harvested plants from a 200,000-acre spread in West Texas. Historians say Native Americans were fermenting sotol some 7,000 years ago.

In the brand's design, the bottle, the tasting room, and the sprawling distillery, it was important to them to honor the Texas history they feel Texas sotol represents. Walking in the door, a visitor feels embraced by the beautiful Southwestern design, cool and clean atmosphere, and special touches like sotol plant hearts and old books for décor. And the cocktails they serve up, like the Paloma and Matador, are works of art in and of themselves.

The original version is herbaceous, with grassy, earthy notes mingling with vanilla on the nose and a bit of cinnamon and citrus on the palate. The oak-aged version provides all of that with a little cedar, allspice and maybe even eucalyptus in the mix. Best of all, it's a wonderfully versatile white liquor; use it in recipes as you might gin, tequila or mezcal. Distinctive for its cobalt-blue bottle with gold print, find Desert Door Texas Sotol retailer near you at DesertDoor.com.