Since the beginning of the whiskey renaissance, pretty much all whiskey bottles have looked somewhat alike. Even the new brands seemed to take their design queues from the legacy brands of yore. Unlike gin and vodka, they were very much married to outdated label and bottle styles. Recently, however, numerous whiskey brands have undergone bold rebranding.
There are about ten I can think of, the best of which is Walsh Whiskey‘s transformation of The Irishman into a premium+ product with sleek contemporary design and braille labels.
Even the heavy hitters are getting in on the graphic design train: Irish Distillers dramatic rebrand of Powers is striking, modern, and colourful.
Despite backlash from core whiskey nerds, these re-brands have worked at gaining attention from newer whiskey-drinking cohorts. So welcome to 21st-century design whiskey, I can’t wait to see what else is on the horizon.
Words: Shamim de Brún
