Johnnie Walker Unravels Lightest Whisky Glass Bottle In The World
Images via Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker has raised a glass—a surprisingly lightweight one at that—with what it believes is the world’s lightest whisky glass bottle. The Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra, as it’s been dubbed, made its debut at the London Design Festival, tipping the scales at a mere 180 grams without its stopper.
No mere drop in the bucket, this 70cl holder is a labor of love. It’s the result of five years of research and development, involving collaboration with external glass makers to rethink the entire bottle-making process. This meant having to abandon Johnnie Walker’s iconic square shape, and the team had to instead opt for a teardrop form that still alludes to the brand’s signature silhouette.
Image via Johnnie Walker
The redesign posed challenges that took the team off guard, with each bottle requiring hand-blowing and there being a need to build a custom protective cage for the round base so bottles would stay intact during filling, production, and shipping.
The lighter bottle is part of parent company Diageo’s broader Spirit of Progress sustainability plan to cut down on carbon emissions by reducing the amount of glass used in its packaging.
Jeremy Lindley, global design director at Diageo, details that the company was inspired by how other luxury sectors, such as eyewear and high-performance cycling, are moving toward “lightweighting” and wondered if “luxury spirits could follow suit.”
Image via Johnnie Walker
Inside this featherlight vessel is a bespoke blend of whiskies, specially crafted by Johnnie Walker’s Master Blender, Dr Emma Walker. The concoction features whiskies from renowned distilleries like Oban, Brora, and Royal Lochnagar, with rare contributions from “ghost” distilleries—those that have been shuttered. Tasting notes include fresh red berries, sweet vanilla, wood spice, toffee, and a touch of warming smoke.
Alas, since the method to make these bottles currently isn’t scalable, only 888 of them will be produced, with a small batch hitting select global markets in 2025 for roughly £1,000 (US$1,315) a pop.
With that, Johnnie Walker’s efforts won’t end with these bottles. Diageo plans to extend its learnings from this project to other initiatives across its range, as well as share its lightweighting findings with the wider industry through a royalty-free UK patent license.
Image via Johnnie Walker
“Rather than hold this new knowledge close to our chest… we hope that our discoveries will have a positive impact within the wider industry and help discover new possibilities for lighter, lower carbon packaging alternatives,” explains Lindley.
Jennifer English, Johnnie Walker’s global brand director, chimes in: “This new, lightweight bottle is a thing of exquisite beauty; but more importantly, it demonstrates what is possible when it comes to lightweighting glass. We will continue applying these learnings across our range, taking more progressive strides as we look to the future of Scotch.”
[via Dieline, The Spirits Business, Formes De Luxe, Diageo, images via Johnnie Walker]
