Case Study: Ardnamurchan
Emulating the Scottish Highlands for Ardnamurchan
Client Name: Adelphi
Brand: Ardnamurchan Distillery
Bottle: Ardnamurchan Whisky
The Company
Steeped in history, Adelphi is a highly acclaimed bottler of rare single cask and limited-edition single malt whisky, fusion whisky, and spirits. But their Ardnamurchan Distillery, located in the most westerly peninsula of the British mainland, is the star of the show when it comes to producing world-class single malt whiskies.
With such stunning surroundings of crystal-clear seas and ancient woodlands, the distillery is inspired to hold sustainable practices at the heart of their operations. All power and heat requirements to run the distillery are sourced from local renewables, including a hydro-electric generator and biomass boiler, making the distilleries carbon footprint incredibly light.
The Aim
With the distillery holding sustainability so close to their heart, it was important that they chose a UK-based glass manufacturer to mitigate any carbon footprint created from shipping as well as utilsing recycled glass content. They also wanted to create a bottle that rang true to their brand whilst showcasing the premium whisky that lies within.
With our manufacturing plant being based only a few hours away from the distillery and our team’s expertise in bringing brands to life through the art of glass packaging and the integration of recycled glass content, Verallia UK was the perfect partner for this project. We had an existing relationship with the distillery as they were already housing their whiskies in one of our off the shelf bottles at the time – the Newton Tall – which was screen printed with the distillery name.
The Design
Ardnamurchan Distillery always knew that they wanted to remove secondary packaging from their offering, meaning that the glass bottle had to do the talking and create an experience for their customers. The idea was simple, to tell their brand story whilst using the highest possible quantity of recycled glass content whilst maintaining a clear appearance for the bottle. They were looking for a simple yet sleek bottle design without any bells and whistles to allow the whisky to do the talking, with the distillery logo embossed into the glass.
We worked in collaboration with Edinburgh-based design agency, Nevis Design on this project.
A Green Touch
We were able to create Ardnamuchan’s desired look and feel with a minimum 50% level of recycled glass content and a weight of 620g. Traditional whisky bottles are typically heavy in weight to give a luxury feel, but for Ardnamurchan, they wanted their glass packaging to reflect their green values as a distillery.
Our glass design and manufacturing experts worked with Nevis Design in order to craft a bottle that would reflect the same level of luxury whilst ringing true to their values. The bottle used a push in the base to mimic a thick base with the distilleries headline ‘Headlands of the Great Seas’ moulded in, which is Gaelic for Ardnamurchan.
Immediate Success
The Ardnamurchan bottle design being approved by the client in February 2021 with the final bottle design being launched towards the end of 2022 in the UK and then gradually introduced to the rest of our 39 markets across the world. The team at Ardnamurchan was thrilled with the bottle and its ability to depict their brand and create a joyful experience for their consumers without the need for secondary packaging. The distillery has won a whole host of awards including ‘Most Sustainable Distillery’ and ‘Best Design’ since launching their whiskies.
We continuously work with Ardnamurchan to produce both their bespoke bottle design as well as adding decoration such as spray and sandblasting to our catalogue bottles for their limited edition whiskies and look forward to continuing this relationship and seeing the distillery grow.
“Our new embossed bottle has been warmly received by everyone we work with across the world. We are very proud of how it looks and feels.. It was important to us that the bottle shows off the liquid inside the bottle and presents our whisky without having to add any unnecessary extra packaging. The QR code on the back label gives the consumer the story of Ardnamurchan Distillery along with a detailed account of how the whisky was made, giving full transparency, just like our bottle.”
Jenny Karlsson, Marketing Communications Manager
