The Bunnahabhain Whisky Box
Burn Stewart Distillers Ltd approached Pol mac (UK) Ltd to help with the design and manufacture of new packaging for their popular 12-year-old Bunnahabhain Single Islay Malt Whisky, which is distilled on the northeast coast of Islay.
The Brief
The brief was to design a high-quality wood whisky box that was distinctive, reflected the same rustic qualities associated with Bunnahabhain Whisky and added 'value' to make it more appealing to Burn Stewart customers.
Design Development
Polmac (UK) Ltd was invited to a meeting with Alison Winship, Burn Stewart Product Development Manager and Mike Cunningham from C & H Creative, Graphic Designers who had been appointed to oversee the design process.
The role of Polmac (UK) Ltd in the meeting was to translate the design ideas proposed by Alison Winship and Mike Cunningham into practical reality and to offer alternative design solutions for consideration, where appropriate.
After some discussion, it was decided to use natural alder wood, with a dark oak stain finish together with glued strip lid panels, to provide strong grain character and variations of colour.
These rustic qualities were to be enhanced using a coarse open-weave natural hessian fabric internally, for restraint, to protect the whisky bottles from impact damage and to provide contrasting colour and texture.
In addition, it was decided to make the whisky boxes more distinctive by ...
- Punctuating the corners with round, polished, brass studs
- Framing the whisky box lids with a borderline burnt into the wood, using pyrography.
- Using laser engraved polished plates recessed into the wood, together with contrasting white and gold text, to provide a focal point!
Delivery
By the end of the meeting, a design had been agreed in principle and C & H Creative Ltd produced a computer graphic of the design for record purposes.
Pol mac (UK) Ltd then quickly manufactured a prototype sample and when this was approved by Alison Winship with some minor modifications, the Bunnahabhain Whisky Box went into full production.
