This page shows all Posts in chronological order. For preselected sets use the Blog sub-menu-options or search and index. We do not intend to compete with, nor to repeat, the many excellent whisky news sites and Blogs on the Web. Here we publish new nominations and bring selected news-items with specific relevance to design of bottles and packaging.
Glenglassaugh 26 year old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Reply
Glenglassaugh 26 year old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky is a marriage of the finest casks which were filled in 1983 from the distillery. It is bottled at 46% alcohol by volume and the result is a complex yet light whisky which still retains much of the youthful elements and light fruits of the original spirit.
It comes in a distinctive “tear shaped” 70cl bottle which is engraved with the Glenglassaugh logo and is packaged in a carton. This is a one-off release and once the 8,700 bottles are sold there can be no more for at least 26 years.
Recommended retail price £152, $240 or €182.
Old Forester vintage-dated Birthday Bourbon
Old Forester, Louisville, Ky. releases its vintage-dated Birthday Bourbon in honour of George Garvin Brown, the founder of Louisville-based Brown-Forman and Old Forester, America’s First Bottled Bourbon. Launched in 2002 to commemorate Brown’s Birthday on September 2, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon is a limited-edition which is released annually.
The bottle’s bold retro design with packaging and label reflect the times in which the Old Forester bourbon legend was created.
Of the many bourbons produced in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, none is more authentic than Old Forester, America’s First bottled Bourbon, introduced in 1870 by legendary bourbon innovator George Garvin Brown.
The era of bottled bourbon began with a signature. And that is why the bottle design features a signature on the label, as did the original 1870 bottle.
To ensure the quality of his bourbon, George Garvin Brown was the first to put it in sealed glass bottles. Then Brown guaranteed its quality with his personal written guarantee and his handwritten signature which he boldly displayed on the old Forester label.
Recommended retail price $50, £31 or €38.
Compass Box Whisky Company Tasting Selection Box
Compass Box Whisky Company Tasting Selection Box.
A gift for the Whisky Connoisseur or to give someone a great introduction to this special spirit: a supremely stylish gift box containing five 5cl ‘cigar tube’ samples of the Scotch whiskies produced by John Glaser at the boutique Scotch whisky maker the Compass Box Whisky Co.
Stylishly packaged with a quotation postcard and your personal message handwritten on a mini whisk tag.
The tubes contain samples of Asyla, Oak Cross, Spice Tree, The Peat Monster and Hedonism. All this presented in a fine, black, lacquered wooden box along with a self-guided tasting mat.
Recommended retail price £40, €49 or $64.
Glenglassaugh 30-plus year old range Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Glenglassaugh 30, 36 and 40/41 year old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky is the product from casks that have matured at the distillery on the Moray Firth coast for over 30, 36 or 40 years respectively. The casks where refill sherry hogsheads and whisky has been bottled at the cask strength and has been bottled with no chill-filtration and no colouring.
They come in a 700ml cut crystal decanter engraved with the Glenglassaugh logo. For the 40 and 41 year old, if desired the decanter can be engraved with your name at no extra charge.
The 40 year old is packaged in a satin lined rosewood box with a pair of cut crystal glasses which can again be engraved with a set of initials at no extra charge. The box is engraved with the Glenglassaugh logo.
Recommended retail price for the 40 (41) year old €1600,- $2100 or £1300. The 30 year old starts at around £410, $660 or €500.
Dewar’s Discovery gift set
Dewar’s Blended Scotch Whiskies introduced a specially designed limited edition Dewar’s Discovery Gift Set. The set included the then newest family member of the Scotch whisky maker, Dewar’s 18.
The Dewar’s 18 was flanked by the two other premium Dewar’s brands, Dewar’s 12 and the ultra premium Dewar’s Signature. Each bottle is individually numbered.
The 200ml bottles are encased in an elegant leather pack that can be later used as storage for other items.
The cases where available with a suggested retail price of €76, £63 or $100.
Dewar’s introduced this High-End Discovery Gift Set in 2009.
Pierre Hermé Paris & La Maison du Whisky present a gift coffret
Pierre Hermé Paris & La Maison du Whisky composed a gift box in December 2008. Holiday periods are an opportunity for brands to partner to offer gift-boxes and the like.
The French pastry chef Pierre Hermé released a whisky and chocolate coffret combined with whiskies from La Maison du Whisky.
According to Pierre Hermé:
The two flavours would combine particularly well.
Moreover, it is also a good opportunity for both brands to be known by connoisseurs of both worlds.
The combinations are:
- Powers whisky & Sensation chocolate
- Dalmore & Mathilda
- Nikka Pure Malt White & Intense
- Elijah Craig & Tsuki
Arran single malt, Cask Finish Editions
The Arran is a relatively new company, founded in 1995, but it has established itself as one of the dynamic new forces in the world of Scotch whiskies, and one of the ways they have done so is by experimenting with different cask finishes.
Arran distillerij on the isle of Arran, started producing Cask Finish Editions in 2003. Three Cask Finish Editions where selected and got new eye catching packagings, to say the least.
The Amarone, Sauternes and Port Finishes are now part of Arran’s core range of whiskies. Bottled in 70cl at 50% abv and with an age statement of 8 Years Old.
Recommended retail price €45, £37 or $70.
Rebecca Creek Texas Whiskey
Rebecca Creek Fine Texas Whiskey is whiskey distilled in San Antonio Texas and is a whiskey that can be enjoyed straight or mixed.
First released in August of 2011 and produced from a proprietary blend of domestic malted barley and naturally limestone-filtered water, it is distilled in small batches in a traditional copper pot still and matured in charred oak for maximum taste profiles.
Packaged in an iconic 750ml bottle with unique and intricately embossed text the recommended retail price is $30, £19 or €23.
Naked Grouse Blended Scotch Whisky
The Edrington Group has recently launched a new addition to The Famous Grouse’s range of blended Scotch whiskies, The Naked Grouse, in an elegant and beautifully crafted white flint bottle manufactured by Allied Glass Containers in 70cl and comes at 40% abv.
Designed to break the boundaries of traditional whisky packaging, The Naked Grouse bottle exudes premium values whilst achieving a modern image. This is realised not by relying upon the use of weight to add value but by designing a right-weight container with almost no labelling, making the product the hero, without the use of unnecessary packaging.
In order to achieve instant recognition for the Brand on shelf, the bottle has the iconic Famous Grouse image debossed into its face. Particular care was taken with the creation of the detail in the deboss, as it is so intrinsically linked to the brand. The designers at Allied Glass, conscious of the need to have the visual effect of a real bird, married 3d modelling technology with traditional craftsmanship, to ensure the moulding was as intricate and accurate as possible. This involved hand chipping the feathered detail, to give a non-uniform natural appearance.
The bottle also has some hidden design features which are left to be discovered by the consumer. Once inverted the base of the bottle reveals a beautifully embossed grouse footprint and the words ‘please recycle’ are in place of the traditional stipple. This bottle is designed to introduce new consumers to The Famous Grouse family.
Mike Rose the Director of Technical Services at The Edrington Group, concludes:
“My team enjoy working with the Design Team at Allied Glass, as they have a natural understanding of what we are trying to achieve, and quickly develop workable and practical solutions.”
Recommended retail price £27, €33 or $43.
Luxury Whisky Gift Set by The Whisky Tasting Company
The Whisky Tasting Company celebration edition Luxury Whisky Gift Set.
To celebrate the 21st Birthday of BBC Good Food Show Whisky Gift Specialists The Whisky Tasting Company offered a celebration edition Luxury Whisky Gift Set.
With Single Malts Aged, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 the set provided single malts from Scotland’s five famous whisky regions – Highland, Island, Speyside, Lowland & Islay.
The highlight of the set was a rare Littlemill Single Malt from Scotland’s oldest distillery, now sadly closed and hard to find.
The set contains:
17 year old Bruichladdich
18 year old Highland Park
19 year old Littlemill
20 year old Braveal
21 year old to Macduff
Presented in a beautiful hand-finished gift box, Whisky Tasting Company sets provide all you need for your own whisky tasting at home.
Sets include single malts, tasting cards for each, and a tasting mat featuring a Scottish landscape. Each bottle in the set is 30ml, more than enough for you to appreciate the special nature of each whisky. Each bottle label replicates (with the producer’s permission) the information on the original whisky bottle we have taken the whisky from.
Sets are available in different compositions and a variety of whiskies and start from about £20, €24 or $32.
