Translating Heritage Into Tomorrow’s Collectibles

When a whisky has spent three or four decades maturing, its packaging must speak to its consumers. The Glendronach Distillery’s new 30 and 40-year-old expressions, presented in collaboration with Hunter Luxury and Brown-Forman, turned that idea into reality with every surface, design and security feature engineered to echo time, care and authenticity. According to PAUL Hamilton, Head of Sales and Marketing at Hunter Luxury, this release is a design-led statement that makes the bottle and the story inside it feel inevitable.

Translating a brand’s DNA into physical form is both an art and a science. Every element has to be imbued with the sense of confidence a product should have. When, for instance, a whisky has waited three or four decades to be poured, the packaging that holds it must do more than protect; it needs to tell the story of time, transformation, the care that went into every cask and the confidence behind every drop.

This has been the case with The Glendronach Distillery, which has unveiled its 30 and 40-year-old expressions. More than a product launch, it is a statement of identity. It defines a new chapter in the distillery’s rich Translating Heritage heritage, almost 200 years in the making, expressed not only in liquid but in form, detail and design. To bring this chapter to life, The Glendronach Distillery’s team turned to Hunter Luxury.

Hunter Luxury partnered with The Brown-Forman’s design team to deliver an ultra-premium presentation for the new products, crafted to reflect the exceptional rarity and prestige of these aged Highland whiskies. Each pack showcases Hunter Luxury’s expertise in precision engineering, material innovation and craftsmanship. “We also developed a bespoke plinth to achieve the optimal balance between visual presence and structural stability,” says Paul. From advanced engraving and staining techniques to structural development and finishing detail, every element of these two ultrapremium packs has been crafted with care, precision and purpose. “We simply wouldn’t be able to do what we do without being fully committed to collaborative, open creative partnerships with our customers,” Paul says.

Creative Collaboration

When working with The Glendronach Distillery, for Hunter Luxury it meant understanding not just the liquid, but also the distillery’s heritage, craftsmanship and evocative sense of place. “We work with brand owners to translate those intangible values into materials, textures and design cues. As an example, the surface of each case is engraved with 30 or 40 facets, each representing a year that the whisky has spent maturing in the cask,” informs Paul.

From the tactile weight of the wood to the intricate gold detailing and the carefully chosen colour palette, which involved colour-matching highly specific wood stains, every element was deliberately considered as a physical metaphor for the brand.

“The Glendronach Distillery is about heritage, strength and authenticity. Therefore, the packaging had to feel rooted in tradition, while still offering the refinement expected of a 30 or 40-year-old release,” Paul elaborates.

Ultimately, packaging for such rare expressions has to do more than look beautiful. It has to feel inevitable, as if it is the only possible vessel for such an extraordinary liquid. “That is what we mean when we talk about translating brand values into tangible form; making packaging that doesn’t just hold a whisky, but becomes part of its identity, inseparable from the experience of owning and opening it,” Paul says.

Since its founding in 2001, Hunter Luxury’s focus on detail is what has set it apart. The agency strives for ‘wow’ in everything it does. “This doesn’t just apply to the packaging we produce, but to the way we operate as a business,” Paul states.

Striking a Balance

The Glendronach Distillery’s packaging required both engineering mastery and creative storytelling. As such, at Hunter Luxury, the team did not see technical precision and emotional resonance as competing; instead, they had to complement one another. “For us, a huge part of any project takes place before production begins, when we build an understanding of the customer’s brand and story. This takes place through site visits, conversations and extensive research,” Paul informs. For example, its work with Glenglassaugh on the Serpentine Coastal Cask Collection involved visiting that distillery on the north coast of Scotland.

“There, we got to really feel what gives the whisky its unique character, the salty bite of the sea air, the stone cliffs and yellow gorse flowers, all of which add different tasting notes to the liquid. Once we can feel a product’s story in this way, we can then use our technical expertise to tell that story through design elements in the final product. Engineering excellence and emotion, no pack should be without either,” Paul adds. And all along, trust is the most valuable commodity in luxury with Hunter Luxury focusing on delivering every detail in line with the consumer’s vision.

Elegance Through Longevity

Sustainability shouldn’t feel like a compromise, but a natural part of the luxury story. “At Hunter Luxury, we believe sustainability and luxury can coexist. In fact, they can reinforce each other,” Paul opines.

By carefully sourcing materials, reducing unnecessary components and designing with recyclability or reusability in mind, companies like Hunter Luxury can create packaging that delivers grandeur while still meeting their customers’ environmental goals. “For example, we often look at how a luxury case can live beyond its initial purpose as a display box, a keepsake, or even as a functional object,” Paul says. In that sense, the longevity of packaging and the joy it brings can be even greater than that of the product. It becomes a statement piece, a collectible, even a status symbol displayed in the home.

“When done right, packaging transforms a bottle of whisky into an heirloom object of pride,” Paul adds. In luxury, it should convey prestige, scarcity, craftsmanship and authenticity before the seal is even broken. And in high-growth markets like India, rare packaging elevates ownership beyond the liquid.

Security Features

Hunter Luxury approaches limited editions with a dual focus; ensuring that the case itself is designed for longevity as a collectible, while also integrating authentication and serialisation features that strengthen brand security. According to Paul, security features are becoming increasingly covert, which makes them much easier to integrate into packaging without disrupting the aesthetics. This is important, because counterfeiting isn’t going away; in fact, it’s increasing. OECD data highlights that the value of fake goods is worth USD 467 billion, which equates to 2.3 percent of all global imports.

“Covert features like invisible QR codes, NFC chips and taggant markers can complement more overt measures like micro-printing, guilloché patterns and holography to provide a wellrounded mix of security solutions. This provides reassurance to the consumer while also adding several layers of protection for brands,” Paul explains. Often, when dealing with ultra-limited runs of spirits, these features can be used to enhance the aura of a product. Serialisation is the obvious example. Numbering limited runs of whisky, which may only be produced in runs of a few hundred bottles, can create a powerful sense of exclusivity.

The Next Frontier

Packaging that offers new and exciting experiences is the future. This could take the form of innovative design language that guides consumers through a unique unboxing experience, or it could integrate digital touchpoints to deliver a deeper, more meaningful brand story that consumers can explore digitally. This might include blockchain technology to improve transparency, particularly among trading and collecting communities.