Food

Lenny Kravitz Launches New Company After Being Introduced to ‘Best-Kept Secret in Mexico’

Lead Photo: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - OCTOBER 24: Lenny Kravitz poses for photo during the red carpet for the presentation of 'Sotol Nocheluna' a new distillate by Lenny Kravitz at Proyecto Público Prim on October 24, 2022 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Medios y Media/Getty Images)
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - OCTOBER 24: Lenny Kravitz poses for photo during the red carpet for the presentation of 'Sotol Nocheluna' a new distillate by Lenny Kravitz at Proyecto Público Prim on October 24, 2022 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Medios y Media/Getty Images)

Singer, songwriter, and actor Lenny Kravitz has entered a new industry. The “American Woman” artist recently launched Nocheluna Sotol, a company that produces the distilled spirit known as sotol. Kravitz calls sotol, which is like mezcal, “the best-kept secret in Mexico.”

“Wild. Natural. Resilient,” Kravitz wrote on social media. “I am pleased to introduce [Nocheluna Sotol] to the world. Sotol is a rare and wild-harvested distillate originating from the Dasylirion plant in the Chihuahuan desert of Mexico. Nocheluna is born from the vibrancy of the wild and I am honored to share it with you.”

Kravitz first learned about sotol while he was in the Dominican Republic shooting his new action-packed romantic comedy Shotgun Wedding, which stars Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel. Kravitz said he was sent a “secret bottle” of sotol and took it to a cast dinner that evening. All it took was one shot and he was “immediately intrigued.” Before the cast knew it, the bottle was empty.

“I started pouring shots for everybody,” Kravitz told People magazine. “Everybody was digging it.”

Soon, Kravitz found himself in the Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico with Maestro Vinatero Don Eduardo Arrieta, a fourth-generation sotol maker. “I hung out in Chihuahua, and I spent time watching the whole process, talking with them, learning, getting my education,” he said. “Then I became partners with them.”

Now as the owner of a sotol company, Kravitz said he “respects the journey” that it takes to make a single bottle of sotol. “I appreciate how this spirit stays true to the traditional ways of making sotol, exemplifying a true understanding of this familial craft,” he said. “I am honored to bring more awareness to this incredible spirit and region.”