360 Degrees: Dewar’s Redesigns Its Packaging in O-I Glass

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dewar’s has introduced a new pack design for its range of blended Scotch whiskies. The most eye-catching feature of the new design is an innovative ‘wave’ in the bottle, symbolising the famous well-rounded flavour of Dewar’s. The ‘wave’ cuts through the paper pressure sensitive label to create a window onto the whisky inside.

“Dewar’s believes in making full, well-rounded whiskies that are enjoyable to drink. It is this well-rounded taste which was the inspiration for our new packaging design”

“Dewar’s believes in making full, well-rounded whiskies that are enjoyable to drink. It is this well-rounded taste which was the inspiration for our new packaging design,” says Iain Kennedy, Senior Global Category Director - Dewar’s Whisky.

Designed by New York agency, Spring Design Partners Inc, and made by glassmaker O-I in Scotland, the stylish new packaging unites the Dewar’s range of whiskies as one cohesive family. Bottles for Dewar’s White Label and 12 Years Old have been released first, with those for 15 and 18 Years to come later.

The redesign has enabled Dewar’s provenance and its rich heritage to be brought to life in a contemporary style. Every bottle features the year 1846, when Dewar’s was founded, and John Dewar’s signature.

From a technical point of view, the wave was a challenging feature to accomplish. Scott Gibb, O-I Sales Manager in Scotland, says, “Dewar’s trialled the various bottles several times to determine risk areas and visual imperfections, for which they had very tight tolerances. We worked very closely with the client from the development of the CAD drawings through sampling and manufacture so we had a good understanding of what to expect. The result is excellent packaging with high visual quality and an impact that can only be achieved in glass.”

The basic shape of the containers remains the same as the previous design and the bottles are designed to share critical dimensions. This minimised change part costs on bottle handlers and labelling machinery. The range has also been reduced from around 26 to 20 containers by removing low volume models. However, the manufacturing and filling requirements are still highly complex – Dewar’s White Label has six lightweight, narrow neck press and blow variants (open pourer and non-refillable finishes on 70cl, 75cl and one litre sizes), along with four traditional blow:blow sizes – 375ml, 500ml, 1.14 and 1.75 litre.

David Hudson, Dewar’s Project Manager says, “We have an excellent working relationship with O-I and speak with them on a daily basis. In addition, we held weekly project meetings to go through each bottle development, look at the critical path, timings, samplings and so on. This was extremely important to us so we could align bottle availability with our other partners in engineering and production and ensure our machine part specialists were on-site for initial set up and line commissioning.”

About Dewar’s
Founded in 1846 by John Dewar, Dewar’s has grown from a small wine and spirits merchant shop in Scotland, to one of the largest Scotch whisky brands in the world. Best known for its iconic Dewar’s White Label, the top selling Blended Scotch Whisky in the USA, it has expanded its family to create a portfolio of premium & super premium whiskies including Dewar’s 12 Years Old, Dewar’s 18 Years Old & the exclusive Dewar’s Signature. These whiskies are crafted using the Dewar’s double-ageing process. Pioneered by Dewar’s in 1899, it involves returning the hand-crafted blend to vintage oak casks for further maturation. The result is a smoother taste with a long, lingering finish; an extra step that is simply worth doing. A taste that wins medals and applause, making Dewar’s one of Scotland’s most awarded whiskies. www.dewars.com

ENJOY RESPONSIBLY DEWAR’S, WHITE LABEL, THE HIGHLANDER AND THE DOUBLE-AGED LOGO ARE TRADEMARKS

About O-I
Millions of times a day, O-I glass containers deliver many of the world's best-known consumer products to people all around the world. With the leading position in Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Latin America, O-I manufactures consumer-preferred, 100-percent recyclable glass containers that enable superior taste, purity, visual appeal and value benefits for our customers’ products. Established in 1903, the company employs more than 22,000 people with 78 plants in 22 countries. In 2009, net sales were $7.1 billion. For more information, visit www.o-i.com.

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