Stepping outside of my ordinary realm of topics, I've decided this month, I will tell a packaging story that is a bit closer to home....
Several years ago longtime friends Paul Werni and Scott Davis got together and carried their passion for spirits across the border to Wisconsin. The distillery is located near the 45th parallel (halfway between the north pole and the equator) where some believe true vodka grain is grown. It is shared by other famous spirit producing regions including Burgundy and Bordeaux. They use only the finest grains from a local farmer and practice slow artisan distilling methods to embrace the flavor of the land.
They wanted the bottle to tell a story about the geography, distillery and the people who produce it. To really show the product and the color, they stayed away from a label and kept the graphics to a minimum, displaying mainly the border symbol, name and a white screened strip on the bottom where they can later write the proof for each small batch. The border symbol represents the bridge they cross everyday to work that connects the two states. The bottle itself is a traditional heavy weighted, bulge-neck whiskey style bottle manufactured in the Midwest. The leather tags are a link to the cattle which are fed the stripped mash from the distillery and are a symbol of the hard work put in at the distillery. The hides were sourced from the local Red Wing Tannery and sent to a local artisan to craft the tags. The bottles are all hand dipped in bottle wax melted in Paul's wife's crock pots. The wax reinforces that the whiskey is a handmade artisan product.
Bottle
Packaging Logistics, Inc.
Leather Tags
Red Wing Tannery & Leatherworks
