The Office of Erik Dahl

The Elements of Islay Bottles

I came across a post in my feedreader today from one of the non-english design blogs that I follow, Below the Clouds. I don’t read Swedish, but I was immediately struck by the beauty of the bottle design. At first I didn’t realize that these were whiskey bottles. The bottles are reminiscent of medical or scientific/laboratory bottles and the labels remind me of my high school chemistry class. The Lp1, Ar1, and Cl1 are great nods to the periodic table of elements.

I would consider buying these based solely on the packaging design. Brilliant.

original Swedish from Below the Clouds:

Jag kan inte så mycket om whisky men jag vet vad som är snyggt. Whiskyserien The Elements of Islay från Speciality Drinks Ltd innehåller tre flaskor som bär de lätt kryptiska namnen AR1, CL1 och LP1. Bakom namnen döljer sig tre whiskys från Ardbeg (AR1), Caol Ila (CL1) och Laphroaig (LP1). Men jag bryr mig inte direkt om innehållet utan mer om de snygga, enkla flaskorna som påminner lite om medicinflaskor eller flaskor med läkarsprit. Tyvärr så vet jag inte vem som formgivit etiketterna eller flaskorna. Fler bilder finns efter hoppet så klart…

translated via Google translate:

I can not so much about the whiskey but I know what is beautiful. Whiskey Suit The Elements of Islay from Specialty Drinks Ltd includes three bottles bearing the easy cryptic names AR1, CL1 and LP1. Behind the names conceals three whiskey from Ardbeg (AR1), Caol Ila (CL1) and Laphroaig (LP1). But I care not about the content, but more about the stylish, simple bottles that reminds us a little about medicine bottles or bottles with medical alcohol. Unfortunately, I do not know who gave the form the labels or bottles. More photos are after the jump as well …

Okay, after a little digging, I was able to locate a little more information about these whiskeys at the whisky exchange.

Welcome to the Elements of Islay, our new range of Single Islay Malt Whiskies.   The Elements range draws its inspiration from traditional medical laboratory labels and packaging – even the bottle we’ve used is called ‘pharmacy’.

The Elements range will be bottled in individual batches, typically blended from between 5 and 20 casks from a single distillery.  Each bottle will show the distillery’s ‘Element’ symbol alongside a batch number on the label (eg Lp1).

Another important feature of the Elements range is the absence of vintages or age statements on the label.  This enables us to marry casks of different ages together to create a unique taste profile for each batch – we believe that stated ages and vintages are less important than creating a top quality malt that truly expresses the character of the distillery that made it.

To underscore this, we have asked respected industry figures to endorse each batch of Elements whisky.  We are delighted that the famous whisky writer, raconteur and bon vivant Charles MacLean has agreed to endorse our inaugural release, which encompasses truly elemental full-proof single malts from three wonderful Islay distilleries. [via: the whisky exchange]

more photos:

Lp1 – A coalsmokey Southern Islay malt from a distillery with many friends. Exuberant, up-front bonfire character, with citrus and brown sugar notes – this is a must for peatheads.

Ar1 – A phenomenal Southern Islay single malt to kick off our Elements of Islay series. This is bursting with peat but with a delicious compensating sweetness.

[via: Below the Clouds]