Doritos Nacho Cheese as a spirit

Snack food giant Frito-Lay North America has partnered with spirits company Empirical to create a limited-edition beverage called Empirical x Doritos Nacho Cheese Spirit. The product claims to offer a multi-sensory drinking experience that smells and tastes like the Doritos Nacho Cheese Chips.

Tina Mahal, SVP of marketing for Frito-Lay North America, said the partnership aims to disrupt the spirits category by offering the brand’s nacho cheese flavor in a bottle.

“We’re always pushing our fans to try new things, so we figure it’s time we disrupt the spirits category by offering our iconic nacho cheese flavor in a bottle,” she said.

To create the flavor, Empirical extracts the many flavor layers of Doritos Nacho Cheese using real chips. The process retains the essence of the chips through vacuum distillation, which operates at lower temperatures, preserving the full spectrum flavors derived from the chips.

Meanwhile, Empirical CEO and distiller Lars Williams said the collaboration allowed the company to experiment with interesting flavors without being stuck in a particular spirits category.

“Empirical is an ‘uncategorised’ spirits company, so it allows us the freedom to experiment with really interesting flavours and not have to be stuck in a gin box, tequila box, or whiskey box,” said Williams.

Limited-edition bottles of Empirical x Doritos Nacho Cheese Spirit will be pre-ordered starting December 13 for an RRP of US$65 (42 percent ABV, 750ml) online and in select New York and California markets.