At this time, Clase Azul debuts Tequila Día de Muertos Edición Limitada Música, the penultimate decanter in its five-year restricted version Nuestros Recuerdos collection, in celebration of Día de Los Muertos.
This 12 months’s launch, Música, is an ode to the soothing cadence of Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Lifeless) melodies. The plum decanter (of which solely 10,000 exist) holds an añejo tequila that’s aged for a mixed 26 months in American and Scotch whiskey casks.
“For this version, I wished to reinterpret music into sensory chords that evoke nostalgia, searching for to realize these notes and totally different nuances by means of the barrels,” grasp distiller Viridiana Tinoco tells Observer. To attain this, Tinoco first aged the tequila in American whiskey casks earlier than a secondary growing older course of the place the liquid was divided between barrels from two areas in Scotland—one from Speyside, identified for imparting aromatic, fruity notes with a touch of smoky character and peat; and the opposite barrel from the Skye area, which is characterised for extra intense peaty and smoky aromas. The elements have been recombined, then bottled to create the ultimate liquid.
The Scotch barrels are supposed to imitate the style and smells that accompany the sounds and strums of Día de Los Muertos, for an all-encompassing expertise that’s higher than the liquid itself. “On the one hand, [there are] aromas that remind us of incense and candles, and on the opposite, these delicate candy notes which can be a part of the choices,” explains Tinoco.
Impressed by the Mexican vacation—historically celebrated on November 1 and November 2—when the dwelling have a good time the souls of their ancestors and family members, Clase Azul launched the primary Nuestros Recuerdos bottle in 2021, as a option to discover the symbolism surrounding Día de Muertos.
“We fell in love with what makes this celebration distinctive: honoring the life and dying of our family members by means of the flavors they loved in life, the aromas that accompanied them, the colourful colours which can be very conventional and the music that accompanies it,” Jonathan González, vice director of product design at Clase Azul, tells Observer.
The Spanish phrase “nuestros recuerdos” interprets to “our recollections,” that are a major a part of the tradition of the vacation and one thing Clase Azul wished to include into the restricted time collection—notably the weather that encompass the altars, the place the dwelling make their choices in honor of their deceased family members.
“This contains pictures of our family members, the meals and drinks they loved, marigold flowers, sugar skulls, colourful papel picado and the music additionally type an necessary a part of the celebration,” Tinoco, who used these choices as inspiration for the five-decanter collection, says. In 2021, the primary Clase Azul Tequila Día de Muertos Edición Limitada Sabores paid tribute to the flavors of the vacation, adopted by Colores (colours) in 2022 and Aromas in 2023.
The ornate particulars of the Música decanter join the buyer even additional to the homage of melody with a scene depicted by Mexican illustrator David Espinosa, generally known as “el Dee,” representing an eclectic musical ensemble. “The members in golden tones on the entrance of this group are ‘the dwelling’ sporting allegorical masks,” explains González. “Within the again, in lilac tones with a skeletal look, are the useless, who be a part of the parade to have a good time Día de Muertos, marching to the sound of their trumpets, drums, tambourines and bandolones.”
Since launching the primary installment of Nuestros Recuerdos, a beloved function of the gathering is an decoration that accompanies Clase Azul’s signature emblem. This version’s handcrafted decoration, as all the time designed by Jaliscan artisans, is a feminine skeletal accordion participant named Catrina, completed in pure gold. It was a token impressed by Tinoco’s personal musical nostalgia. “The accordion may be very current in Mexican people music. My grandfather, with whom I’ve many fond recollections, used to hearken to it, so listening to it once more transports me again to these moments we shared.”
For the primary time, the decoration is interactive as Catrina’s limbs, comprising 40 particular person components, are free-flowing to evoke each the motion of taking part in the instrument and dancing alongside to its tune. “Every year, we search to innovate in order that our collectors have an iconic and distinctive piece of their arms,” González says. “This 12 months, with the main focus of the bottle being music, we wished to work with the artisans’ experience to create an decoration that alludes to music, leading to a extra enjoyable and jovial restricted version.” The one-and-a-half week creation of each decoration contributes to the 18-month artistic and growth course of for every restricted version. “So, proper now, we have already got the 2025 version,” teased González.
Because the collection finale is on the horizon, Tinoco ensured that there might be extra innovation sooner or later, as the complete strategy of Nuestros Recuerdos has been a studying alternative. “The previous editions have taught us many issues alongside the best way; we’ve got rethought the best way we work and direct our efforts—from the distilleries, the spirits and the required elements—in order that we are able to method future editions from expertise,” explains Tinoco.
“Trying forward, these unique proposals have led us to assume exterior the field and innovate by means of totally different glazes, supplies within the bottle, barrels, toasting, oaks and aromas impressed by a narrative to inform, the place the widespread thread is expressed in high quality, differentiation and the distinctive,” she shares, implying that Clase Azul will proceed to inform a narrative and current a product that’s a lot extra than simply the liquid—and extra a logo of tradition.
Clase Azul Tequila Día de Muertos Edición Limitada Música is on the market as a 1-liter decanter at 40 % ABV for $1,500.