With Tequila Ultra, Clase Azul Bottles “The Exquisiteness of Time”

If you ask these editors what they would most like in the lead up to the holiday season, chances are that time—more of it, more selectively spent—would factor into their answers. More hours in the day remain as elusive as ever, but for the similarly hard-to-shop-for, perennially booked tastemakers for whom the perfect gift seems impossible to pin down, we might suggest the next best thing: Clase Azul Tequila Ultra. 

Every batch is more than 11 years in the making from when its agave piñas are harvested in Jalisco to when the amber-hued extra añejo tequila is finally bottled in its platinum, silver, and 24-karat gold decanters. While distilling standards mandate that extra añejo tequila age more than three years to earn the use of the title, Clase Azul México goes beyond that to age tequila Ultra for five years in American whiskey and sherry casks. 

The result is a one-of-a-kind sensory experience, with aromatic notes of sherry, dried plums, apricot, ripe cherries, maple syrup, hazelnut and oak. The taste of dried plums, cinamon, vanilla, candied ginger, and clove in each sip makes Tequila Ultra particularly well-suited to the sweet and savory festive season palate. Furthermore, its decanter, intricately rendered in a trifecta of precious metals, is particularly giftable for an altogether different reason: only one in ten of every skilled artisans Clase Azul employs possesses the skills necessary to paint its intricate motifs from memory—they’re invisible until after the piece has been hand-fired in a ceramic kiln.

It’s Clase Azul’s dedication to craft in all its forms that attracts a dedicated legion of enthusiasts who keep its full lineup at the ready in their homes. But it also appeals to the collaborators whose creative contributions make its special edition tequilas and mezcals bona fide collectors’ items. The premium distiller’s fine dining concept in Los Cabos has emerged as a notable case study in what’s possible when in-house tequila experts can work alongside chefs to create a memorable experience from start to finish. Just recently, the artist Eduardo Sarabia, who often finds inspiration in symbols of Mexico’s folk traditions, announced that he collaborated with the brand to create two limited-edition decanters for special joven and añejo tequilas. 

Time will certainly bring new culinary outposts for the brand, as well as exciting new artist-driven collaborations. But Clase Azul Tequila Ultra remains one of these editors’ choice ways to appreciate “the exquisiteness of time,” in the words of founder Arturo Lomeli. All while reveling in the precious few free moments of our own.