Moonshiner Tim’s Sotol hunt leads him deep into the Texas borderlands Thu 20 April 2023 17:43 Helen Williams
Jessica Hardy
Published Apr 06, 2026
Moonshiners star Tim Smith ventured away from his usual still during a 2023 episode of the show in search of Sotol.
Tim Smith and Howard Thompson joined forces in a bid to find an old recipe for the liquor. Many of the recipes featured on the Discovery are hundreds of years old and Tim and co enjoy recreating the same beverages that their ancestors did.
Of course, making moonshine in the Appalachian Mountains comes with its dangers given that its not legal. However, Tim and Howard turned up the danger another notch as they ventured to the Texas borderlands to find an age-old recipe.
What is Sotol?
Sotol is a rural northern Mexican moonshine.
It’s a liquor created by distilling alcohol made from a shrub known as Dasylirion wheeleri or ‘desert spoon’.
Sotol is often compared to tequila and mezcal. However, while tequila is created from the agave plant, sotol is made from the sotol plant which is also found in the desert.
Moonshiners search for Sotol recipe
During Moonshiners, Tim and Howie are specifically searching for Pancho Villa’s lost recipe for Sotol.
There appear to be many parallels that can be drawn between moonshine in the USA and Sotol in Mexico.
Sotol was made illegal in Mexico for 50 years, however, it was legalized in 1994.
Tim took to Twitter before Moonshiners aired on April 19 to write that he and Howard were set to “head deep into the Texas borderlands” in a bid to find “the rural Mexican moonshine that fueled revolts and revolution.”
Moonshiners is on tonight! Me & Howard head deep into the Texas borderlands in search of Pancho Villa's lost recipe for Sotol, the rural Mexican moonshine that fueled revolts and revolution. Also Steve Tickle designs a UFO-shaped copper pot#americanspirit #timsmith #moonshiners
— Moonshiner Tim Smith (@TimSmithSpirits) April 19, 2023
Tim heads to the borderlands with Howie
As Tim explained in his Twitter teaser post, he and Howie were set to head to the Texas borderlands to find Sotol.
Howard joined Moonshiners in 2019 while Tim has been a cast member since the show began in 2011.
The two Discovery stars showed their support for a fellow Moonshiner in 2023 – Josh Owens endured serious injuries from a motorcycle accident.
— Moonshiner Tim Smith (@TimSmithSpirits) April 10, 2023
