# Desert Door Distillery

> Desert Door Distillery is a veteran-founded Texas spirits company that commercialized sotol made from wild-harvested Dasylirion texanum. Its Original, Oak-Aged and Pollinator expressions reached liquor retailers, bars and a Driftwood tasting room; a 2025 RNDC partnership targeted 46 states plus Washington, D.C. Austin Business Journal reported the business had closed in May 2026.

- **Founded:** 2017
- **Headquarters:** Driftwood, United States
- **Founders:** Ryan Campbell (Co-founder; production-process development), Judson Kauffman (Co-founder), Brent Looby (Co-founder; publicly identified as CEO in 2025)
- **Products:** Original Texas Sotol, Oak-Aged Texas Sotol, Pollinator Texas Sotol, Conservation and Explorer Series, Distillery tours and tasting room
- **Notable:** Third place in the fall 2016 Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition, with a USD 2,000 prize and investor introductions., Opened the Driftwood distillery in 2017., Oak-Aged won gold with a score of 91 at the 2025 Denver International Spirits Competition; Original and Pollinator received silver.

## Products & services

- **Original Texas Sotol** — Unaged spirit made from wild-harvested Texas sotol; marketed for sipping and cocktails. The website lists USD 44.99, a listing rather than a guarantee of availability.
- **Oak-Aged Texas Sotol** — The current product page describes two years in charred virgin American white oak and lists USD 54.99. Suitable for neat drinking or brown-spirit cocktails; listed out of stock when researched.
- **Pollinator Texas Sotol** — Botanical-infused sotol featuring ingredients such as mesquite, grapefruit and honeysuckle. The product page lists USD 54.99 and a USD 2 conservation donation per bottle; listed out of stock when researched.
- **Conservation and Explorer Series** — Limited bottlings linking conservation projects or barrel experiments to product releases; examples include Spoke Hollow and Garrison Brothers bourbon-barrel-aged Driftwood Cowboy.
- **Distillery tours and tasting room** — Historically offered cocktails, bottle sales and approximately 40-minute tours at USD 25 per person. May 2026 closure reporting supersedes the website’s continuing tour promotion.
- **The Rackhouse** — Private-event space promoted by the brand; 2026 reporting describes canceled event bookings around the closure.

## Achievements

- Third place in the fall 2016 Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition, with a USD 2,000 prize and investor introductions.
- Opened the Driftwood distillery in 2017.
- Oak-Aged won gold with a score of 91 at the 2025 Denver International Spirits Competition; Original and Pollinator received silver.
- Wine Enthusiast rated Oak-Aged 89 points in its May 2023 issue.
- Donated 70 bottles of hand sanitizer to the University of Texas Police Department during the 2020 pandemic response, according to The Alcalde.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Austin Business Journal reported the company had quietly closed; its May 13 report referenced payment struggles and alleged investor disputes. The precise cause and permanence of closure are not established here.
- **2025-07** — Announced an RNDC-supported expansion from 20 states toward 46 states and Washington, D.C. by the end of 2025.
- **2025-06** — Brent Looby discussed wild-harvest supply chains, sugar extraction, distillation and barrel aging on Spirits & Distilling Podcast episode 34.
- **2025-04** — Original Texas Sotol entered Tecovas’ nationwide in-store bar program where legal.

## Links

- Website: https://www.desertdoor.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/desert-door/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@desertdoor
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desertdoor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/desertdoorsotol
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@desertdoor

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/desert-door-distillery
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-04