Chinese New Year is celebrated the world over and with food and drink being an integral part of the festivities, sales in the premium drinks category are hyper-competitive during this period. With the consumers' elevated mood comes a significantly reduced attention span, and the best way to stand out amongst competitors is to create attention-grabbing, limited-edition packaging.

Liquor shelves are crowded with premium Single Malt Scotch brands - Glenfiddich, The Macallan, Johnnie Walker - all vying for coveted market share. Our task was to develop Benriach’s 12-year-old Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky limited edition pack for Chinese New Year 2023, the Year of the Rabbit, and 2024, the Year of the Dragon. This traditional celebration honoured in almost every capital city across the globe offers a major window of opportunity to go big with special edition product launches and limited-edition packaging expressions. It’s a festival that’s blessed with rich and varied iconography, as well as vibrant themes that change every year.

Benriach are well known for their eclectic mix of casks used in their whiskey's maturation process. Taking the iconic cask, we created a repeat-pattern to serve as the base design for the packaging. In theme with the years' nominated zodiac animals, a stylised rabbit and dragon were created that could be animated for use on social media. Multiple special finishes were employed, including special uncoated paper, debossing, embossing and metallic foils, adding a tactile layer of luxuriousness to the brand experience.

The end result was bespoke packaging that both stayed true to the Benriach brand while marrying in the richness and tradition of Chinese New Year. A design worthy of the 'collector's edition' title.

This project was conducted entirely remotely, demonstrating our ability to collaborate effectively across both seas and time zones. Meetings were done via video call and samples were shipped.