The whisky industry is one that’s steeped in tradition and history — and for good reason — however such conditions occasionally lead to a lack of innovation and desire to progress. This certainly isn’t the case at Johnnie Walker, as the established Scotch whisky brand has just unveiled what it believes to be the world’s lightest 70cl glass whisky bottle.
Appearing for the first time as the limited-edition Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra — which was shown for the first time at London Design Festival — this new glassmaking technique has the potential to make a significant change within the wider spirits industry.
For Johnnie Walker, this new bottle has been five years in the making. The scotch brand set out to ‘move the spirits industry forward,’ and was inspired by how the luxury industry was moving away from heavy equating to quality and valuing lighter, delicate objects more. Now, it has revealed this new bottle, which at 180g (without the closure), weighs an impressive 118g less than the previously claimed lightest whisky bottle.
“Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra is a truly progressive stride forward for Johnnie Walker, Diageo and the industry,” said global brand director of Johnnie Walker, Jennifer English. “We didn’t know what we were going to be able to achieve when we set out to push the boundaries of luxury, and the result is something that many said would not be possible. 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.”
As Johnnie Walker strived to create a lighter bottle, for the first time ever it moved away from its iconic square shape to that of a teardrop. A major move in an industry that relies so much on both brand image and loyalty.
Reducing the weight of a bottle has several clear benefits. The less glass is utilized in an object reduces the carbon emissions required to produce it and, while this first bottle is a limited edition, if a lightweight bottle was mass produced, it would significantly reduce the carbon emissions created while transporting it.
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Leaning into the sustainability angle, in a first for Diageo — Johnnie Walker’s parent company — despite being granted a UK patent for the innovation, the company is offering this new lightweight technology royalty-free to whoever wishes to use it.
“We took our vision to a team of expert glassmakers and throughout a five-year test-and-learn process slowly discovered how to create elegant, lightweight glass,” said global design director at Diageo, Jeremy Lindley. “The technical challenges that lightweighting presents led us to incorporate various design and production specifications that we could not have envisaged at the start of our journey; from the requirement of a teardrop shape which we have molded to still mimic the iconic square form of Johnnie Walker bottles, to the addition of a protective cage to allow for a round base, and the hand-making and filling of each individual bottle to avoid damages in production.”
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Looking to the limited edition whisky itself, for this momentous release, Johnnie Walker’s master blender Dr. Emma Walker selected liquid from distilleries like Oban, Brora and Royal Lochnagar, in addition to several ‘ghost whiskies.’ Only 888 bottles will ever be produced and priced at £1,000 (approx. $1,320), with a limited run being released in 2025.
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