Waterford Whisky ditch the typical cork closure

Unashamedly influenced by the world’s greatest winemakers, Waterford Whisky obsessively brings the same intellectual drive, methodology and rigour to barley – the very source of malt whisky’s complex flavour.

Extolling a hundred exclusive farms of Irish-grown barley, the search for natural flavours was via three paths: the Single Farm Origins pursue the individualism of terroir-derived flavour; they are the building blocks of Cuvées, where the whole is greater than the sum. Finally, the Arcadian Barley expresses the intensity of flavour from exploring the old ways – of Organic, Biodynamic, Heritage and even Irish-peated barley. Indeed, it is through exploration of the frontiers of natural flavour that Waterford Whisky is the world’s largest producer of organic and biodynamic whiskies.

Waterford Whisky was initially drawn to Berlin Packaging UK as they’d noticed our collaboration with the Vinolok closures. Waterford Whisky’s CEO had seen them in the wine industry and felt they would be ideally suited for their brand. In addition, Berlin Packaging UK had the know-how about Vinolok, the willingness to get involved, and the fact that we worked effectively with the design teams in mapping out just what was possible from an aesthetic point of view.

With an impeccable whisky like no other, they needed a packaging presentation to suit. Waterford Whisky does the right thing to make a profound whisky, which includes doing things the right way rather than the easy way. A lot of the packaging choices could be more cost-effective, but this would mean less sustainability, and it was important the collars and the cuffs of the project all match.

The most notable obstacle was the concerns around the Vinolok closure and the production line – the whisky industry is entirely used to a cork closure and not at all familiar with glass closures. With this, the team were required to bring a lot of experts together from all areas of the business to reassure and work over any technical challenges.

The Vinolok closures are now a vital part of the Waterford Whisky brand. Given that it was the first major whisky brand to ditch the cork and make this custom glass closure part of the core identity. The Vinolok closure is so striking and original, the look of the bottles next to different colour closures that they’re confident they’ve paved the way, and now many others may want to follow suit.

This article was originally published by Berlin Packaging UK.