One of tequila’s most hyped brands is closing out their most-sought-after limited edition series this month, and if you’re a casual fan of agave, it may be worth the $1,900 price tag to stick one on your home bar. Clase Azul Día de los Muertos Edición Limitada “Recuerdos” is fifth and final bottle of the annual October collection.
Clase Azul’s five-year collection for Día de Los Muertos began in 2021. Previous releases have been loosely titled as Flavors, Colors, Aromas, and Music. This year’s “Recuerdos (Memories)” release is the most attentive to traditions.
Recuerdos is a blend of tequilas aged between 12 and 38 months. Some of the spirit used for this blend was distilled from agaves cooked in the traditional oven methods, while the rest was likely sourced from distilleries that use modern cooking techniques. The liquid was placed in ex-American whiskey casks (typically bourbon and rye barrels), before reaching maturity and finally being blended by Master Distiller Viridiana Tinoco.
Tinoco called this tequila a “nostalgic return to my grandmother’s kitchen, to the wood-fired stove where she made tortillas.” Her official tasting notes highlight wood and smoke, with aromas of cooked agave, orange peel, and clove. On the palate, orange marmalade, cinnamon, and clove build toward a “long, lingering finish of citrus and toasted wood.”
Part bourbon-lover’s tequila and part entry-level tequila, this bottle is really designed not just to fill the role of an annual limited edition release, but to push the typical Clase Azul drinker toward bolder flavors. After all, Clase Azul is primarily blended as an approachable bottle—something crowd pleasing first. Their bottles are typically a little on the sweeter side, prioritizing smoothness.
But the Día de Muertos Edición Limitada series has playfully explored beyond that pop profile to find some of the deeper, more traditional nuances of flavor that are what agave nerds love to see in their favorite products.
If you’re still finding your way in the world of tequila, this $1,900 bottle is a limited edition flex with a lot to offer and a presentation that loves attention. The bottle, by the way, was designed by Erika Rivera—a Mexican artist currently living in Melbourne. The ornament on the bottle was handcrafted by a family-run brass workshop called Milagros de Latón in Jalisco (they’ve made the ornament for each of the five releases in this series). Only 10,000 were created for this release.
This isn’t the most affordable tequila on the market, nor is it the most “traditional” or “artisanal.” But if you’re someone who has mostly consumed popular blancos so far in your tequila drinking career, and you’re still not ready to dip your toes into the bolder brands (let alone mezcal), this bottle could be the next milestone in your Jalisco-drinking journey.
G. Clay Whittaker is a Maxim contributor covering lifestyle, whiskey, cannabis and travel. His work has also appeared in Bon Appetit, Men’s Journal, Cigar Aficionado, Playboy and Esquire. Subscribe to his newsletter Drinks & Stuff for tequila reviews and trends, perspectives on drinks, and stuff.
