Dynasty Spirits

Dynasty Spirits is not a distillery in the old-line sense. It is, as of July 2026, an independently owned spirits portfolio company in Dallas, Texas, that by its own count has launched more than 20 brands since 2010, ranging from botanical vodkas to ready-to-drink seltzers. What earns it a place in a serious whiskey conversation is its 2024 whiskey debut, Lasso Motel, a sourced and cask-finished line that arrived with 13 expressions at once and promptly took Best in Show at a major competition. The parent company writes the checks; Lasso Motel is the reason those who appreciate good whiskey should know the name.

History & Heritage

Devin Odell founded Dynasty Spirits in 2010 and remains its president. The launch announcement for Lasso Motel described him as a drinks industry veteran and called Dynasty Spirits the third-largest spirits producer in Texas. Steve Carlson, who spent 25 years at JPMorgan Chase, joined as chief operating officer in 2012, according to the company.

Lasso Motel Whiskey debuted on September 23, 2024. There is no actual Lasso Motel. The name and the mid-century Americana aesthetic pay tribute to the Belmont Hotel, a now-shuttered Dallas landmark the brand compares to West Hollywood's Chateau Marmont, where Odell spent memorable time. Where most American whiskey brands reach for pre-Prohibition nostalgia, Lasso Motel deliberately draws from the roadside America of the 1950s through the 1980s, the era of long car rides and independent motels.

The Whiskey

Lasso Motel is a non-distilling producer. Forbes reports its whiskey is produced at Green River Distillery in Owensboro, Kentucky, and Breaking Bourbon adds that the Lasso Motel 10-Year Single Barrel Rye and the Lasso Motel 18-Year American Straight Whiskey come from MGP in Indiana, with the 8-Year Kentucky Straight Whiskey distilled at Barton 1792 Distillery. The flagship mash bill runs 70 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and 9 percent malted barley, while the Lasso Motel 18-Year American Straight Whiskey, bottled at 121 proof, uses an unusual 99 percent corn recipe. That 18-year expression won Best of Class and Best in Show at the 2024 New York World Spirits Competition within weeks of launch, then repeated the feat as the Best in Show Ultimate Winner at the 2025 Ascot Awards.

The heart of the brand is its finishing program: nine cask finishes at launch, all bottled at 100 proof, most rested about six months in casks sourced worldwide (the Amburana finish is the exception, at roughly two and a half weeks). The Lasso Motel Tokaji Cask Finish Whiskey and the Lasso Motel Naranja Cask Finish are two of the more distinctive entries, borrowing sweetness from Hungarian dessert wine and Spanish orange wine casks respectively. In April 2025 the brand added the Lasso Motel Darts Cigarette Blend, a 100-proof whiskey finished across Armagnac, Sherry, and Cognac casks and pitched by the brand as an homage to classic dive bars. In May 2026 came the Lasso Motel Whiskey x James Dean 13-Year Rye Whiskey, a limited release created with the James Dean Estate, distilled in Indiana from a 95 percent rye and 5 percent malted barley mash bill and bottled at 112 proof.

Why It Matters

Sourced whiskey lives or dies on selection and finishing, and Lasso Motel treats both as the whole job. Launching 13 expressions simultaneously, from a 4-year Kentucky straight whiskey to an 18-year award winner, gave drinkers a rare chance to taste one house style refracted through many casks. The Sentinel Room's Reserve Whiskey Library carries eight Lasso Motel expressions, spanning the aged statements and the finishing program: the Lasso Motel 18-Year American Straight Whiskey alongside the Tokaji, Naranja, Caribbean Rum, and Amburana cask finishes and the Lasso Motel Darts Cigarette Blend. Few producers, sourced or otherwise, invite that kind of side-by-side comparison.