The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2023–2024
Casa Obsidiana: tequila in artist-made clay bottles wins Pentawards 2024 Beverage Platinum
Each Casa Obsidiana bottle is a handmade clay vessel by artist Adán Paredes, adorned with volcanic obsidian — winning Pentawards 2024's Beverage Platinum.
Casa Obsidiana · Makers & Allies
What it had to solve
Casa Obsidiana was founded at the base of the Volcán de Tequila in Jalisco, Mexico, where obsidian stones lie in the volcanic soil that nourishes the agave, by two families with about 300 years of combined craft. The brief to Makers & Allies was to make the world's most beautiful tequila — to turn terroir and family mastery into a luxury object.
How it works
Casa Obsidiana tequila is made at the foot of the Volcán de Tequila in Jalisco, Mexico, where obsidian stones lie in the volcanic soil that nourishes the agave. Two families, uniting about 300 years of tequila and terroir expertise, asked design studio Makers & Allies to turn that place into a luxury brand object.
The studio's answer was to make the bottle itself the artwork. Contemporary Mexican artist Adán Paredes sculpts each vessel from clay reminiscent of the earth around the agave, then embellishes it with an obsidian relic. Branding is nearly absent — a tonal tamper strip and a small back label — so the vessel, not a logo, becomes the brand's icon.
The packaging completes the ritual: luxury boxes open with gallery windows inspired by the hallways of contemporary Mexican art museums, printed with a textured linen-like feel, with hidden inserts that cradle each collectible vessel. An NFC chip inlaid in the obsidian links the physical object to a digital brand story.
At Pentawards 2024, the jury gave the work the Beverage Platinum — the category's top honour among more than 2,000 entries from 62 countries — recognising packaging that turned terroir and craft into a museum-worthy object.
Why it lands
- The studio started at the source, meeting the Master Tequilero, Master Winemaker and artist, so every design decision traces back to a real brand truth.
- Removing the label makes the handmade vessel the icon — luxury communicated by subtraction rather than ornament.
- Museum-style display boxes turn opening the package into a ritual, justifying a collectible price.
- Embedding an NFC chip in the obsidian bridges the physical bottle and a digital brand experience, making the packaging interactive.
What it did
Won the Beverage Platinum at Pentawards 2024 — the category's top prize among more than 2,000 entries from 62 countries — and put an agency-built packaging system, not a bottle label, at the centre of a luxury tequila launch.
What you can take
When the product itself is the story, design can subtract: the vessel becomes the logo, the label disappears, and packaging becomes a display ritual that justifies a luxury price.
Since then
The Pentawards Platinum gave Casa Obsidiana and Makers & Allies a launch proof point in the crowded luxury tequila market, where the brand positioned itself as 'the world's most beautiful tequila.' The packaging system, with its collectible clay vessels and NFC experience, became the centrepiece of the brand's website and launch campaign.
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