our story

Tall Texan Distilling was forged in the rugged heritage of the Chihuahuan Desert we call home. We honor centuries of spirits craftsmanship while bottling the untamed soul of Texas.

Tall Texan Distilling founder, Richard Lonquist, on his ranch in Sanderson, Texas in the Chihuahuan Desert is wearing glasses, a long-sleeved button-up shirt, and rubber boots, with sparse vegetation around him.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

A fourth-generation Texas oil man turned desert distiller.

Richard Lonquist has spent decades out in Big Bend and the Trans-Pecos, working the land, hunting on his family ranch, and falling hard for the wild soul of the Chihuahuan Desert. Out here, under wide-open skies and surrounded by raw beauty, he found something different: a native plant with a 300-year-old legacy and just the right amount of bite—sotol.

So, he planted his flag, and his distillery. in his own backyard in Sanderson, Texas. A rough-edged border town where Dasylirion Texanum grows wild. It’s not polished. It’s not precious. It’s the kind of place where stories start with a shot and end with a sunrise.

Tall Texan is Richard’s way of honoring centuries of sotol craftmanship, and bottling the untamed spirit of West Texas.

Born wild. Made with grit. Meant to be shared.

SANDERSON

A winding river running through a rocky desert landscape, with sparse vegetation and distant hills under a clear sky.

A small West Texas border town with a big history, Sanderson was founded in 1882. The Southern Pacific Railroad put it on the map, where the “Tall Texan” robbed his last train before being laid to rest in Cedar Grove Cemetery. The town sits at the convergence of three ecological zones and is home to dozens of succulent species, including Dasylirion Texanum, the source of our sotol, which we harvest on our ranch.

A panoramic view of a small town, Sanderson, Texas, at sunset with a colorful sky filled with pink and purple clouds, and houses spread across the landscape with a distant, flat mountain range.
A grave site with a stone marker for train robbers, located at Baxters Curve, Terrell County, Texas. The marker commemorates train robbers killed during a robbery on March 13, 1912, with names and details inscribed. The area is fenced, with a dry landscape, a few trees, and hills in the background under a bright blue sky.
A person wearing a wide-brimmed hat, gloves, and a brown jacket is cutting down a sotol with a machete in a field of sotol plants and desert bushes.
A black and white mugshot of a man with short hair, wearing a dark coat. The image shows two views: a profile view on the left and a front view on the right. The man has a serious expression. The top of the image contains handwritten measurements, and the bottom contains handwritten notes.

THE TALL TEXAN —
AN AMERICAN OUTLAW.

Fearless, 6 feet, 2 inches tall with pale yellow eyes, Ben Kilpatrick, also known as the Tall Texan was one of the most prolific train robbers of the Old West. A native Texan, his career began as an honest cowboy working on ranches where he made the acquaintance of the Ketchum Gang. Collectively, they decided there was an easier way to make money and began robbing trains in New Mexico. After a failed robbery, he fled to the Robbers’ Roost in Utah and joined Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch in 1898,

Kilpatrick was caught after the 1901 Great Northern Robbery in Montana, but after serving a 10 year sentence in a Federal Prison in Atlanta, Georgia, he soon returned to his life of crime.  

On March 12, 1912, Kilpatrick and Ole Hobek, a former inmate from prison, planned to rob the Galveston, Harrisburg, & San Antonio No.9 train near Dryden, Texas. A Wells Fargo agent, David Trousdale killed the robbers making it their final heist. Ben Kilpatrick was laid to rest at the Cedar Grove Cemetery in Sanderson.

  • Black and white mugshot of a young man with short hair, wearing a high-collared uniform, facing forward with a serious expression, and a numbered placard reading '10385'.

    The Tall Texan (Ben Kilpatrick) was arrested in 1901 for robbery, and served 10 years of a 15-year sentence.

  • A black-and-white photo of six men standing and sitting on a street, some wearing hats and jackets, with a building in the background. The bottom of the photo contains handwritten text mentioning train robbers killed in a train accident on March 13, 190, and the photo was taken by someone.

    On March 13, 1912, the Tall Texan and Ole Hobek were killed during a train robbery near Sanderson, Texas. Kilpatrick has the number 1 etched into the photo, just over his head. The number 2 is written over Hobek’s head. The other men in the photo are holding their bodies in place.

  • A vintage black-and-white photograph of a woman with short hair wearing a suit and a bow tie, with handwritten numbers and letters on the photo.

    Kilpatrick’s on-again, off-again girlfriend was Laura Bullion. Kilpatrick wrote to her from prison, but Laura had moved on. Bullion was the longest lived of the Wild Bunch, passing away peacefully in Memphis in 1961.

  • Interior of a building with significant damage, debris on the floor, and several men inspecting the scene. The ceiling is extensively damaged, with hanging and collapsed parts, and there are large windows on both sides.

    The Wild Bunch had over 20 members that included the Ben Kilpatrick (aka Tall Texan), Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid, “Black Jack” Ketchum, and Laura Bullion amongst others. Damage to an Overland Flyer train caused by an explosion allowed the Wild Bunch to escape with $30,000.

  • Vintage photograph of six men dressed in early 20th century suits and hats, posing for a formal portrait with two seated on ornate chairs and four standing behind them.

    A colorized picture, circa 1900, of 5 members of the Wild Bunch:  
    L-R- Harry A. Longabaugh (The Sundance Kid), William “News” Carver, Ben Kilpatrick (The Tall Texan), Harvey Logan (Kid Curry), Robert Leroy Parker (Butch Cassidy)

PARTNERSHIPS

In tribute to centuries of sotol craftsmanship, we’ve joined forces with master producers in Mexico to bring you the Tall Texan Heritage Collection.

Two men are smiling and talking inside a brewery or winery, surrounded by large wooden fermentation tanks. The background includes a brick wall and a sign that reads 'Area de Fermentacion'.

Left to Right: Victor Ibarra, Phillip Dormont

Three men standing outside near pipes and construction tools, smiling at the camera, with trees and a concrete wall in the background.

Left to Right: Victor Ibarra, Gerardo Ruelas Jr, Phillip Dormont

Two men walking through a field of agave plants in a mountainous landscape, under a partly cloudy sky.