Client: The Glenmorangie Company
Project: Traigh Bhan 19 Years Old Packaging Design
In 2019 we were commissioned to design the packaging for a rare and extremely precious expression of Ardbeg’s famous whisky. Our brief was to design the bottle graphics and individual box carton (IBC) for this new 19 year-old whisky from the Islay distillery.
In keeping with other Ardbeg whiskies, the 19 year-old is named after a specific place on Islay and our task was to encapsulate this location in the packaging: the place being Traigh Bhan (the beach known locally as 'Singing Sands'). The beach is characterised by soft, white sands and black, jagged rocks and these two elements have been brought to the fore in the packaging design and in the product narrative.
Our design features the dramatic black rocks, in a layout that occupies two out of the four faces of the IBC. These rocks have been embossed and varnished to give a contrasting feel in the hand and hidden in these rocks is an Ardbeg 'A'. The white sand that covers the rest of the box is used to tell the product story and has a softer contrasting varnish.
Traigh Bhan has been released in annual small batches - with the first batch being matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-oloroso sherry casks before being bottled at 46.2%. We created a special foot label to communicate the details of the batch and included in these a playful note: "Bottled: during a storm". Subsequent notes have been ‘Under a thick haar’, ‘In a lockdown’, ‘Under a full moon’, and ‘In humidity’. Ardbeggians can research their batch code at Ardbeg.com, as well as find more information on the whisky (such as recommended food pairings and tasting notes). Having created the initial launch release we’ve gone on to design five subsequent annual release foot labels, and key visuals and social media posts for batch six.
The white sand is also used to show Ardbeg's famous distillery dog, Shortie, digging feverously in the sand and covering the pack in his pawprints. In a playful twist on Ardbeg's traditional knotwork pattern Shortie's pawprints also form the roundel on the top of the IBC. This playfulness also extends to the inside of the box lid, where Shortie can be found half-buried in the sand and wearing sunglasses.
