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Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon is a renowned spirit known for its excellence. La Maison du Whisky (LMDW) in Paris annually selects exclusive barrels for Whisky Live Paris, and COHO Creative is commissioned to design the packaging for this prestigious event.

The brief included a four-fold challenge:
1- Creating a package that portrays luxury beyond great design to meet the high aesthetic standards of collectors and enhance their perception of value.
2- Celebrate the brand’s heritage, visually narrating a story of character and craft and showcasing a long tradition of distilling excellence and commitment to innovation.
3 - Similar to previous years, incorporate unique aesthetics and materials to evoke a sense of extraordinary luxury within the already exceptional Blanton’s brand.
4 - Although not competing on mass retail shelves, this collector’s item had to stand out within the bourbon category, ensuring its distinction.

Concept:
As in years prior, COHO Creative leverages a key aspect of the Blanton’s brand to anchor the design and create powerful storytelling. The 2022 design pays homage to the distiller’s renowned Warehouse H, a historic rickhouse built in the 1930s that has become legendary among bourbon connoisseurs.

Execution:
Warehouse H in Kentucky was constructed to harness the state’s extreme seasonal variations, crucial to the aging process of bourbon, and Colonel Albert Blanton, the brand’s namesake, considered barrels from the central area of Warehouse H to be the finest. The design celebrates this, showcasing each season through watercolor depictions of the trees found on the structure’s grounds.

The watercolor style itself reflects Blanton’s dedication to craftsmanship and establishing a connection to the wooden elements and aging barrels of the facility.

Copper plays a significant role in Warehouse H’s effectiveness. COHO partnered with Eurostampa to apply copper leaf prominently in the design. It is featured in the embossed silhouette of Warehouse H, the product masthead, and the 2022 edition seal. Copper metallic inks appear in type and graphic elements on the carton, bottle necker, and belly band.

Creating design continuity from previous years, cartography motifs on the tape seals indicate packages sold at Whisky Live Paris, Whisky Live Singapore, and the La Maison du Whisky store in Paris, and the bottle labels are copper inked with handwritten distiller notes and regulatory requirements.

For surprise and delight, the interior surface of the carton features a rich black and white photo from inside the rickhouse.

Overall, the design creates a harmonious, inviting, and sophisticated aesthetic, immersing the viewer in the experience of visiting one of bourbon’s iconic landmarks.


Results:
The LMDW edition of Blanton’s quickly sells out at Whisky Live Paris, Whisky Live Singapore, and the LMDW store, leading to a significant presence in the secondary collector’s market. While the initial price at events and the store is around €150 for the special edition, the impact goes beyond the sales value. A complete set with varying ABV was recently auctioned for €5,400, representing a 500% increase compared to the individual bottle cost. This translates to an economic impact of over €1M if projected across the entire release.