Tequila Gold (750 ml)

When Arturo Lomelí launched Clase Azul in 1997 at $100 a bottle — into a market where the average tequila sold for $18 — the Gold expression represents the logical apex of that original transgression: a three-component blend of Plata, French-oak-aged Reposado, and sherry-cask-finished Extra Añejo, assembled into a single release that has no structural equivalent in the core Jalisco Highlands category.

The agave grows in the Los Altos de Jalisco highlands near Jesús María, Arandas, where red volcanic, mineral-rich soils and high-altitude cool nights slow the plant's development to 6–9+ years of maturity — producing piñas measurably larger and sweeter than Lowland fruit.

Those piñas are slow-cooked in traditional masonry brick ovens for a minimum of 72 hours, then fermented with a proprietary yeast strain before double distillation in stainless-steel pot stills fitted with copper coils.

The Gold's architecture is its special feature: the sherry-cask-finished Extra Añejo component introduces dried-fruit depth and oxidative complexity that neither the Reposado nor the Plata carries alone, while the French oak aging on the Reposado fraction diverges from the American ex-bourbon barrels used in the flagship Reposado — a deliberate layering of wood influence across three oak regimes.

Triple filtration at 40% ABV delivers the brand's signature low-burn profile, though critics note this process trades raw agave expressiveness for textural uniformity. The hand-painted Mazahua ceramic decanter, requiring roughly two weeks of artisan production, is itself a collectible object independent of the liquid.