The Spirits Business, a trade magazine that looks at trends and launches in the liquor industry, has come out with a list of the most unusual containers designed for whisky. Here are the winners:
The Golf Range: Ryder Cup, an annual gold tournament between Europe and America, concluded this week in Scotland. A year ago, Scotch whisky producer Douglas Laing unveiled two gold club- and bag-shaped whisky decanters in honour of the event. The McGibbon?s Golf Range is a relaunch of the editions that earned the whisky bottler the Queen?s Award for Export Achievement in 1990. The 500 ml golf-themed ceramic decanters have been given a modern makeover.
The tattoo design: This may not be to everyone?s taste, but Diageo?s J&B blended Scotch whisky brand teamed up with a tattoo studio in Paris to launch a rare selection of handcrafted limited-edition bottles made to look like tattooed skin. The process involves a complete latex covering over the bottle, which is contained in a customised wooden box which also has a tattoo design.
Like a Rolling Stone: In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the legendary rock band, the Rolling Stones, Japanese drinks group Suntory released 150 limited-edition whisky bottles shaped like the band?s iconic lips and tongue logo. Priced at $6,300, each bottle also featured a crystal stopper and a black leather display case, while the whisky itself was a special blend with a ?complex aroma?.
Samurai Sting: This blended whisky, created by Japanese producer Nikka, comes with its own metal Samurai helmet and armour. Initially launched only in duty-free shops and priced at $250, the edition is now a regular fixture across whisky auctions. Another Japanese whisky brand, Suntory, released its own interesting scarf-wrapped bottle design in 2013.
The Buoy Bottle: This buoy-shaped bottle created by Irish whisky distillery Cooley is a testament to the creation of the rare whisky it contains. This first bottling of Inish Turk Beg has been matured in waters of the coast of Ireland and each tilting mooring buoy bottle is handblown and partly made with sand from the island?s own beaches.
Anniversary Silver: Internationally-renowned Scottish designer Maeve Gillies designed the bottle for Highland Park?s 50-year-old whisky, taking inspiration from the wild and rugged elemental forces of the island. Each bottle is handcrafted, wrapped in ornate sterling silver, with the number ?50? intertwined in the nautical-inspired design. A piece of Orcadian pink sandstone, sourced from the quarry that built the 15th-century St Magnus? Cathedral in Kirkwall, is inscribed with the Highland Park logo and set in the front of the bottle. On the back, there is a dark glass disc which becomes translucent once the bottle is empty and through this, a tiny replica of the rosette window in the cathedral is visible.The bottle is presented in a hand-carved Scottish oak box, set with a sterling silver and glass porthole through which you can glimpse the Highland Park logo on the bottle within.
The M Word: Last year, Edrington unveiled the ?pinnacle? of its 1824 Macallan Scotch whisky range called The Macallan M bottled in a luxury decanter created by French crystal-maker Lalique. Only 1,750 of The Macallan M crystal decanters, each engraved with its own individual number, were made available globally. With six sharp angular faces, the decanter was designed to reflect the six-sided ethos of the brand.