Artisans meet spirits

By Alexandros Varnezis

A series of limited edition carafes, the Clase Azul Master Artisans, was created by Mexico’s most renowned craft artists to accommodate high quality tequila. Ceramist Ángel Santos and a team of five artisans created 300 handmade carafes, each of which took up to 12 hours to produce. Their intricate paintings depict flowers traditionally used in the Tonalá region’s clay techniques, as well as pheasants with long wings, cross-cultural symbols of prosperity, in colours representing the four elements (air, earth, fire and water). Master distiller Viridiana Tinoco, created an 8-year-old extra añejo tequila, especially for the collector’s carafes. As Clase Azul’s oldest tequila to date, it has been aged in four different types of barrels, commonly used for whisky and sherry (amontillado, oloroso and pedro ximénez). The result? An aromatically complex, full-bodied blend with notes of grapes, orange peel, plums, red berries and sweet pear, with toasted oak and a tobacco finish. The one-liter collector’s carafes are priced at $5,000 each and are available exclusively at the brand’s boutique in San José del Cabo, Mexico.

Photos Courtesy of Clase Azul

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