The new look was carried out by Studio Davis and brand and packaging design consultants, Osborne Pike.
The objective of the new design was to “embody and communicate the core values of Casa Sauza XA – heritage and craftsmanship”.
The Sauza brand boasts more than three generations of tequila making experience and innovation, with each tequila made using “unique distillation with hand-selected Weber blue agave plants and a long ageing process in small American oak barrels”.
Studio Davis and Osborne Pike say they took inspiration from La Quinta, the spiritual home of the Sauza family; La Constancia, the ageing room; Obsidian, the ancient volcanic rock that gives the land in this region its fertile properties; and Don Cenobio Sauza, the founder of the distillery.
They envisaged Casa Sauza XA’s target consumer as an “urban gentleman” and came up with the Edicion Limitada bottle with a leather strap and metal buckles, said to be reminiscent of the decorative Mexican saddles that would have been used by a man of status such as Don Cenobio Sauza. The ‘distressed’ leather strap combines with a metal stopper to redefine the opening and closing ritual of an ultra-premium spirit.
Gigi Dadan, global tequila marketing director at Beam Inc., said: "Limited-edition bottlings and special small batch, premium expressions are among the most significant new developments in the tequila category. Casa Sauza XA is an exciting addition to our portfolio. This new signature expression is a nod to our pioneering spirit and dedication to creating exceptionally fine tequila for today's sophisticated palates."
Studio Davis creative director Will Davis, said: “We knew there was potential to explore a new and innovative usage experience for the ultra-premium spirit category. Innovative packaging ideas can often be rejected if they are not relevant to the brand, but we felt the new opening ritual executed with leather straps and metal buckles achieves the right balance of heritage and craftsmanship with a novel consumer experience”.
Osborne Pike creative director David Pike, said: “The unique bottle form and opening ritual already says a lot about this innovative product. We wanted to keep the graphic elements simple and refined, placed within the glass ‘saddle’ that is such an elegant feature of Studio Davis’ bottle. We came up with the idea of using ‘XA’ as a descriptor, a nod to premium Cognac’s XO designation but with a Mexican twist.”
