Arturo Lomeli, founder of Clase Azul Tequila, is on a mission to bring Mexico to the world

His early experiments were more curiosity than commerce, but from those first small-batch bottles came a question that guided everything that followed: how could he share the soul of Mexico with the world in a way that transcended stereotypes? “Tequila is the biggest soft power that Mexico has. My destiny was to create Clase Azul,” he says. “I believe that I didn’t create Clase Azul, but Clase Azul chose me as a guardian of the values it represents.”

Lomeli and I are talking in a suite at Rosewood Hong Kong—he's been brought here by Vines and Terroirs founders Charles Soulisse Plou and Valentin Maurel, who are the exclusive distributors of Clase Azul in Hong Kong. 

Turns out, the entrepreneur has a long-standing relationship with Rosewood Hotels. “In 2005, when Hurricane Wilma hit Cancun, we lost 40 per cent of our sales,” he says. “It was devastating.”

To recover those losses, Lomeli and his team went in search of new opportunities and found themselves in Los Cabos, where Las Ventanas al Paraiso, a Rosewood Resort, opened their doors to Clase Azul. “They were the first ones to put the 200ml Clase Azul decanter in every single room,” he recalls, adding the relationship grew to Rosewood properties across Mexico, then California and eventually to its properties around the world.

He’s brought three decanters to Hong Kong from Clase Azul’s latest Limited Edition series. “Every year, we collaborate with a different Mexican artist who uses ancient techniques; we call it Master Artisans,” says Lomeli. This year, it’s Ángel Ortiz. Taught by his grandparents, he’s been practising barro bruñido—a traditional Mexican pottery technique known for its non-glazed finish—since he was 11 years old, producing works that depict rural scenes and symbols of life and death in earthy shades of ochre, sage green and midnight blue.

We want to share with the world how beautiful Mexican culture is—not just because we’re Mexican but because we are humans. In this time of technology and all this AI ... I think keeping the essence of being human, keeping stories alive, is the core of the future. And that’s what we do.”

That mission is realised in full at Clase Azul’s brand homes— spaces intended to be the physical manifestation of the spirit of the brand, and the spirit it sells, that Lomeli is so passionate about sharing. 

There are four brand homes in total: Clase Azul La Terraza Los Cabos, an intimate restaurant that pairs Clase Azul with contemporary Mexican cuisine made from local ingredients; The Loft in Brooklyn, which serves as a private event space; Clase Azul Boutique La Tierra Ebisu in Tokyo, the brand’s first outpost in Asia which hosts by-appointment-only tastings; and finally, Casa de los Leones in Mexico City, which opened in February this year.

After spending years building Clase Azul’s international presence— everywhere from beach clubs in Greece to swanky bars in Shanghai— Lomeli decided it was time to come home. “In 2022, we thought, we have to come back to Mexico,” he says. “So we bought a house because we wanted to come back and say, we are Mexicans, and this is an honour to our culture ... we are ambassadors of Mexico.”

The house in question is a stunning neoclassical home in Mexico City’s leafy Polanco neighbourhood,
originally built in the 1940s by architect Carlos Peña. It features the kind of sculpted stonework, stained glass, polychrome mosaics and ornate façades that defined the era.

To bring it into the now, Lomeli commissioned 70 Mexican artists, designers, artisans and studios, whose works are now woven into the house’s architectural and experiential fabric. A stand-out piece is a custom sofa by designer Josefina Ruiz and architects C Cúbica architects, which mirrors the pattern of a Clase Azul bottle; while chrome coffee tables, bars and chairs by furniture designer Raul de la Cerda bring a modern twist. Throughout the home, ceramic and stone surfaces carry memory through pattern, repetition and imperfection. Together, these collaborations have made the house a living archive of contemporary Mexican creativity.

At the heart of Casa de los Leones is Taste of Time, a guided experience offered by appointment. A tasting of five tequila expressions, it’s structured to honour the timeline of tequila creation—from cultivating the agave to ageing and finishing. “We want people to experience the warmth of Mexican hospitality, to hear the stories that shape our culture,” says Lomeli. “We want to show the world that we can create something that’s really elevated.”

This month, Lomeli is set to open his most ambitious brand house yet: La Hacienda Clase Azul, set on 32 hectares in the highlands of Jalisco. “It will have a tequila distillery—a fabrica—agave fields, a ceramic factory, a beautiful restaurant and 11 guest rooms,” Lomeli says. We bought the land in 2016 and now, ten years later, it’s finally coming to life. I’m excited. I’m very excited.”

From a humble gothic table leg sparking the iconic decanter to what is now widely recognised as one of the world’s most premium tequila brands, it’s pretty phenomenal what Lomeli has built. In an era dominated by fleeting trends and performative precision, his insistence on strictly handmade products, thoughtful storytelling and human warmth is a welcome reminder that beautiful things—things that last—take time.

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