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The Bushmills Single Malt range in its new finery, designed to emphasise the brand’s “heritage and authenticity” |
UK/INTERNATIONAL. Irish whiskey brand Bushmills has unveiled a new look for its 10, 16 and 21yo single malt whiskies, in a bid to “bring the quality of the packaging up to the quality of the liquid”. The new look was revealed to selected media at an exclusive tasting event in Waxy O’Connor’s Irish pub near Leicester Square in London on Tuesday November 2, with Bushmills master blender Helen Mulholland on hand to open the first of the 2010 bottling of the super-premium 21yo malt.
The new packaging has been designed with “heritage and authenticity” in mind, according to the Diageo-owned brand. Each outer case displays an image of the Old Bushmills Distillery, Ireland’s oldest operational distillery which was granted its licence in 1608, a date that is embossed prominently on the new bottles. The labelling includes details on the casks used to mature each single malt, along with highlights of the taste profile of each.
Bushmills Global Brand Director Sam Reader told The Moodie Report: “Having already redesigned the packaging for Bushmills Original and Black Bush, the new look for the single malts range is a logical next step. We’ve focused on heritage and authenticity, while bringing the brand up to date visually. The old pack was rather dusty and didn’t do justice to the liquid inside.
“Our designer looked at the history of the Bushmills packaging to get to the heart of what the brand is about. The new outer case features the distillery prominently, to emphasise the connection between the whiskey and the community, which is very important to us. We’ve also focused on the 400 years of history Bushmills has, while the colour coding helps to highlight the extraordinary variety of flavours within the single malt range.”
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Bushmills Global Brand Director Sam Reader: to place “increasing focus” on the travel retail market |
Reader confirmed that the brand would be placing “increasing focus” on the travel retail market, which she described as a “unique opportunity” for Bushmills. “There is no other market where we can encourage trialling the brand among such a broad group of consumers,” she noted. “The sampling opportunities are hugely important. Bushmills is such a wonderful liquid that we know people will be converted once they try it. We will be putting increasing focus on travel retail as it offers us a great shop window for the brand.”
New Bushmills merchandising units designed for travel retail were recently introduced to Belfast International, Dublin T2 and Moscow Domodedovo airports, while the new single malts packaging will signal a push behind the brand in existing strongholds, such as Ireland, the US and UK, and emerging markets in eastern Europe.
The launch of the new Bushmills Single Malt packaging was accompanied by a tasting of each of the 10, 16 and 21yo variants, led by master blender Mulholland. “We’re very proud of the Bushmills single malts and delighted they now have the packaging they deserve,” she told journalists. Each of the single malts won gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition earlier this year, while Bushmills 21yo was named the world’s best Irish single malt whiskey at the World Whiskies Awards in London.
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Bushmills Master Blender Helen Mulholland was on hand to lead an exclusive Bushmills tasting for trade media |
