Clase Azul Flexes Old-School Distilling Muscle With Its 25th Anniversary Ultra-Premium Tequila

Jonah Flicker
·2 min read
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You can instantly recognize a bottle of ultra-premium Clase Azul Tequila because the beautiful, artisanal, hand-painted ceramic decanters this high-end spirit comes in are part of its core identity. This week to celebrate its 25th anniversary, the brand has launched the new 25 Aniversario Limited Edition, a tequila that incorporates some other artisanal methods into the production of the liquid.

This past winter, Clase Azul began a transformation of its brand identity by changing its name from Clase Azul Spirits to Clase Azul México. While this might seem more nominal than substantive, the point was to highlight the heritage and roots of this Mexican-owned and founded company. So it follows suit that this new reposado tequila draws from some of the classic, traditional methods used in the spirit’s production.

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According to the brand, master distiller Viridiana Tinoco was responsible for reimagining the way this tequila would be crafted. That means that a portion of the agave was milled using a traditional stone tahona, a large wheel that crushes the agave into a pulp as it moves around in a circle. The rest was likely crushed using the roller mill that is at the distillery, a more modern method commonly used by tequila brands. Tinoco also said that the fermentation time was extended to allow more citrus and fruit notes to appear, and the blend of liquid was aged for eight months in two first-use whiskey barrels to impart extra flavor. Tasting notes include caramel and vanilla on the palate, followed by spice, agave and some minerality on the finish.

“Our intention was to pay homage to Clase Azul Tequila Reposado, while still creating something special in honor of our 25th Anniversary’’ Tinoco said in a statement. “Using a traditional stone tahona to mill part of the agave and aging in American whiskey casks that have only been used once seemed to strike the perfect balance for this timeless tequila.” Just 9,125 bottles will be available when 25 Aniversario Limited Edition launches this week, and each deep blue ceramic decanter will display the new Clase Azul emblem, a circle surrounded by leaves and feathered brushstrokes. This is one bottle you might want to display even after you finish the tequila inside.

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