Mezcal Clase Azul Durango

Clase Azul Durango was the tequila house's first mezcal — and it comes in a hand-painted black ceramic decanter that's as much the product as the liquid. Clase Azul, the Jalisco brand famous for its blue-and-white ceramic tequila bottles, went to Durango for its debut mezcal, the state at the northeastern edge of the denomination where wild cenizo agave — Agave durangensis, named ash for the color of its leaves — grows abundantly and takes twelve to fifteen years to mature. The mezcal is made by a traditional palenque: cenizo roasted in an earthen pit, crushed, fermented with wild yeast, and double-distilled in copper, bottled at 40% ABV in a decanter finished by hand with the Mazahua-influenced artwork the house is known for. Mezcal Reviews' drinkers are divided in a way that's honest to report: one calls it their absolute favorite — soft mineral notes and elegant smoke rather than in-your-face liquid smoke — while others, fans of the tequila, found it muted at $200 and pointed to Derrumbes and other Durango cenizos at a fifth of the price. Expect the Durango signature — mineral, earthy, herbal cenizo with tropical fruit and pine — in a soft, polished, gently smoky register. Honest note: you're paying for the decanter and the name; enthusiasts buy Durango elsewhere and collectors buy this. For the gift, the shelf, or the Clase Azul devotee who wants the set. Ash-gray agave, black ceramic.

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