Clase Azul México has opened a new chapter for its Day of the Dead limited editions with a new tequila called Día de Muertos Edición Limitada Trascender.
The tequila is a blend of two añejos, each aged for more than 30 months. One is aged in American whiskey casks, while the other is finished in casks used to ferment the base wine for champagne. Those wine casks carry the imprint of autolysis – the process in which yeast cells break down after fermentation – which Clase Azul says imparts warm, buttery aromas of toasted nuts and freshly baked bread to the tequila.
It should complement the ex-bourbon-aged tequila very well, although most people purchasing this new bottle will consider it a collectible rather than a consumable. That’s because Clase Azul’s Día de Muertos bottlings have become rather valuable in recent years.
The bottles have been gaining significant value at auction, with Edition 1 (released in 2017 and limited to 300 bottles) selling for $35,000 at Sotheby’s earlier this year. The 2021 release, Sabores, sold for $7,500 in the summer, too.
Those results come shortly after Clase Azul México concluded its Nuestros Recuerdos series. It ran for five years and celebrated the sensory experiences of Día de Muertos: Sabores, Colores, Aromas, Música, and Recuerdos.
Trascender is not part of a new series. Clase Azul says it will stand alone as a Día de Muertos limited edition, and each future edition will be a singular creation, inspired by a new interpretation of the tradition. The wine casks help tell a story of transcendence, which falls in line with the principle of Día de Muertos: that death is not the end, but a transformation of life.
Master distiller Viridiana Tinoco said: “The tequila inherits the aromatic legacy of autolysis. The soul of the agave, a plant that embodies patience, resilience, and cyclical life, meets the memory of the wine. Together, they give rise to a spirit that celebrates a permanence that transcends time.”
As with all Clase Azul releases, the decanter feels as important as what’s inside, if not more so. Its glaze shifts from deep blue to vibrant magenta, symbolizing the soul’s transition from the earthly to the spiritual realm. The floral composition around its base evokes the marigold paths believed to guide departed souls during Día de Muertos. Each of the 10,000 decanters has been hand-painted with the house’s signature feathered brushstrokes.
Rising from crimson mano de león blossoms, brushstrokes in 24-karat gold trace the soul’s ascent toward the sun, with a marigold on each side of the decanter representing the soul in transformation. Tiny skulls and crystalline droplets are worked into the design as nods to the duality of life and death.
“For this piece, we wanted to go back to our essence, our hand-applied feathered brushstrokes, to root ourselves as we honored one of Mexico’s most beautiful celebrations,” said creative director Sofía Ortiz. “With each brushstroke, the flowers come to life and transform into light, emerging against the depths of a dark blue night.”
Clase Azul Día de Muertos Edición Limitada Trascender is bottled at 40% ABV in a one-liter ceramic decanter and costs $2,000 (£1,490). It is available now at La Hacienda in Jalisco, Casa de los Leones in Mexico City, Clase Azul’s boutique in San José del Cabo, Espacio Barcelona, and La Tierra in Tokyo, with Clase Azul The Loft in Brooklyn and select international retailers to follow, claseazul.com
