Gold Packaging Design · 2023
The Brollach Single Malt Irish Whiskey
by Tiago Russo and Katia Martins
- A' Design Award 2023 Gold Winner in Packaging Design
- Awarded April 15, 2023
- CLIENT: The Craft Irish Whiskey Co.
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 42,982
- Verification code E18F769051 · Verify this award
About The Brollach Single Malt Irish Whiskey
The Brollach is a disruptor. Born of tradition but unbound by convention, it is a whiskey that is at once a proud product of Irish history, yet charts a new path. It is the culmination of a long and personal search for a whiskey worthy of honouring family, one that would be amongst the finest Irish whiskeys ever produced. It is a whiskey of unparalleled distinction, embodying the design, craft, skill and attention to detail that The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. pour into every bottle.
Tiago Russo's The Brollach Single Malt Irish Whiskey packaging stands as a distinguished exemplar of contemporary luxury spirits presentation, seamlessly integrating traditional craft materials with refined modern sensibility. The design demonstrates masterful understanding of material hierarchy and contrast, positioning warm quarter-sawn oak against cool brushed stainless steel in a dialogue that speaks simultaneously to heritage provenance and contemporary sophistication. The decision to employ quarter-sawn timber for the presentation case reveals considerable deliberation—this cutting method produces the characteristic medullary ray patterns visible on the facade, patterns historically associated with the finest furniture making traditions and offering superior dimensional stability alongside visual distinction. The metal bindings serve both structural and aesthetic functions, their precise mitred corners suggesting engineering exactitude while their satin finish provides temperature contrast against the wood's organic warmth. The viewing aperture represents a particularly thoughtful intervention, creating anticipation and ritual around the reveal while protecting the precious contents; its oval form softens the otherwise rectilinear composition, introducing a moment of organic curvature that echoes the bottle's shoulders. Typography across the packaging demonstrates sophisticated hierarchy—the flowing script establishing emotional warmth and heritage connotation while the supporting serif capitals provide authority and legibility. The decanter itself participates in a long lineage of spirits vessel design, its substantial shoulders and clean lines suggesting both generosity and refinement. The burl wood stopper provides the composition's most emphatically organic element, its swirling grain patterns unrepeatable and unique, promising that each bottle offers singular character. Viewers might contemplate how such packaging design transforms the act of consumption into ceremony, elevating the spirits within through the reverence of their presentation.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The Brollach's theme and design concept is all about the weight of heritage. With a naming that relates directly to Jay Bradley's family name – the Founder of The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. - the ideology of this whiskey was to create something that could transmit the passage of time through history, through heirloom, in a more traditional approach that highlights the classical notions of craftsmanship.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Straps hold the glasses with two slots, an ancient technique for belts or armours.
The bottle is inserted onto a thick oak base with a deep locator. Bold, bulky, strong, yet with an elegant take, such as the soft neck brace that keeps the glass vessel in place. The drawer underneath, with a silver plate on the front and a leather pull, reveals a hidden compartment that contains the drinking accessories and testers, revealing an additional depth to the entire whiskey-tasting experience. - Tags
- Whiskey, luxury, design, craftsmanship, heritage, experience, immersion, packaging, product, exclusive
- Production Technology
- The metal and the oak combine in a way that doesn't need additional artefacts, it doesn't need a special coating or polishing. It is original, true to its origins, simple, yet luxurious; humble in nature, yet a conqueror.
The metal is flat, bulky, with a bold presence. It makes a statement, cools down the wood presence, and adds the imagery of structure, of foundations. The wood adds presence, humanity, in a story of home feelings, of fortification of a true Irish heritage. - Design Challenge
- The Brollach represents an homage to the history of the brand and Irish whiskey. Unlike any other whiskey designed and created until now, each and every single detail, each feature, is all about the family heirloom. A traditional approach to the furniture-making heritage of the Bradley family has been revisited and reimagined to create an experience that values tasting and celebration with the weight of time, of passion that travel through generations to create a unique moment in time.
- Project Duration
- Designed between 2020 and 2021, The Brollach had to then meet almost a year of fabrication until every single detail was ready. As a design that heavily immerses on the heritage and craftsmanship connotations, every single detail had to be executed with utmost precision, with the techniques applied to the metal lining or the engraving being developed for several months until reaching the level of perfectionism and dedication that make this product, truly, an homage to Irish whiskey.
- Operation Flow
- The wooden grain, intertwined on 45 degrees, guides the eyes towards the centre of the box: the more you glance, the more your vision converges to the bold metal trims and the sneak peek of the monogram and bottle inside. There, the dark suede invites the user to immerse onto the contrasting products that emerge in front of the metallic trims. Bottle, glasses, booklet and certificate, bring up intensity by contrasting that same darkness with the metal, colours, and the whiskey's natural shades.
- Research
- The Brollach was developed considering two different sets of research. As the tone of the brand, it was the aim of this product to highlight and elevate the whiskey-tasting experience, and at the same time, to represent a homage to the craftsmanship and family heirloom that is in the foundation of the brand, and therefore a strong focus was put into understanding and achieving the best results out of traditional techniques and materials that represent Shay's work and traditional Irish manufacturing.
- Inspiration
- The medieval style of forged metals and wood were the starting point of this product, envisioned that, upon looking, could bring the thoughts of History running through the box, the perception that although this is a brand new and contemporary product, the user could still feel the passage of time running through the oak grain, the weight of ancient craftsmanship through the metal trims, and the presence of a whiskey that matured, endured, and could be passed over generations.
- Image Credits
- The Craft Irish Whiskey Co.
Colors of The Brollach Single Malt Irish Whiskey
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