I think we all understand that tequila isn’t just a cheap booze you shoot when you lose a game of quarters. There are some fine sipping tequilas out there right now, but Clase Azul is taking their premium tequila to the next level by putting it in handmade clay bottles. Each bottle is hand-sculpted and hand painted by native artisans who live in Santa Maria Canchesda, a village renowned for their master pottery skills. No two bottles are exactly identical, and each bottle takes at least two weeks to make. Some of the limited edition bottles were created to honor Mexico’s history or certain cultural traditions. They’re not cheap (you’ll pay up to $1700 for a bottle of limited run Clase Azul) but they’ve become collector’s items, with owners upcycling the bottles into lamps and vases. You can pick up their reposado tequila in a beautiful blue and white bottle for just $99. I wish I would’ve known about Clase Azul before Christmas, because I would have bought one, knocked back all the tequila and then given the empty bottle to my mom as a present. Because I’m thoughtful like that.
Check out the gallery for a look at artistic process behind Clase Azul and the different bottles on the market.
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The 20th anniversary bottle is a limited run with only 7,300 bottles made. That's 24 carat gold painted on the bottle.
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This is a limited edition tequila and bottle made exclusively for MGM Resorts. You can't buy the bottle, and you can only get this tequila at MGM properties, like the Bellagio, Aria and MGM Grand. It's $60 a pour.
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The 2017 Dia de los Muertos bottle was made to commemorate the holiday. Only 300 bottles were made.
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For the Puebla bottle, the beautiful brush strokes, as well as the colors, cobalt blue and yellow, are inspired by Talavera; the traditional art of Puebla México. It's one of the oldest artisanal techniques in our country practiced by indigenous people after the Spanish conquest.
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La Surrealista: This bottle is a tribute to women living in exile in México: Leonora Carrington, English painter and writer (1917-2011); Remedios Varo, Spanish painter (1908- 1963); Kati Horna, Hungarian photographer (1912-2000) as well as Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter (1907-1954). All women vital to the surrealist period in México, which developed after André Breton's visit in the 1920s.
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El Juego de Pelota: The archaeological site of Ek-Balam, which means "bright star jaguar or black jaguar", is the area where the ballgame was played more than 3,000 years ago. This was a game where a ball was passed by hitting it mostly with the hip or forearm with the purpose of inserting it into one of the two rings located at the top of the pyramid's diagonal walls.
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Las Planideras: La Llorona or "Weeping Woman" is a 16th century Mexican legend. People talk of a weeping woman walking through town yelling, "Oh, my children" and then disappearing into the waters of a lake. No one knows much about this woman, only that she is searching for her children and that her cries seem to come from the underworld. T
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Popol Vuh: Translated from the Mayan language, K'iché, the Popol Vuh is the "Book of Counsel" or the "Book of the Community" containing Mayan legends that explain the origins of the world and of civilization.
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Each bottle of Clase Azul takes at least two weeks to make. Clase Azul is 100% authentic in every way. In the small Mexican town of Santa Maria Canchesda, over 100 artisans dedicate their time to creating each bottle one at a time by hand.
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