Casa Sauza XA Ultra-Premium Limited Edition Tequila Bottle

Derrick Lin

Global

Designed by Studio Davis and Osborne Pike.
Country: United Kingdom

Bottle beautiful…Casa Sauza XA, the ultra-premium limited edition tequila, gets a distinctive new look

UK-based structural packaging design consultants Studio Davis and brand and packaging design consultants Osborne Pike have collaborated to create a distinctive 750ml bottle design for an innovative addition to Beam’s award-winning tequila portfolio: Casa Sauza XA.

The Sauza brand has over 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.

The story…

The objective of the new design was to embody and communicate the core values of Casa Sauza XA – heritage and craftsmanship. To bring these values to life, Studio Davis and Osborne Pike 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.

Conscious that the overall pack proposition should be relevant to a target consumer seeking more sophisticated and refined limited edition tequilas, a hypothetical design target was created: known as the ‘Urban Gentleman’. Understanding the distinctive brand assets and attributes that he would find attractive and memorable formed an important part of the overall design process.

It is from this creative process that the key features of the Edicion Limitada bottle were born, perhaps the most distinctive of which is the leather strap and metal buckles, 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.

What they have to say…

Gigi Dadan, global tequila marketing director at Beam Inc., says; “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.”

Will Davis, creative director at Studio Davis, says: “When we were ideating this unique packaging, 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”.

David Pike, creative director at Osborne Pike commenting on the graphic design says: “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.


A Visual Story Of Casa Sauza XA Ultra Premium, Limited Edition Tequila Packaging from StudioDavis on Vimeo.