Isle of Harris – The Hearach Scotch Whisky

The Hearach, the inaugural release of Scotch Whisky from the Isle of Harris Distillery situated in the Outer Hebrides, is a spirit strongly reflective of the connection between people who live on the island, and the elemental place itself. The theme of weaving together people and place runs through the brand DNA of The Hearach - the Scottish Gaelic word for a native of Harris - and is a strong feature of the bottle and packaging design.

The brief was to create a distinctive, premium bottle and packaging solution for The Hearach Scotch Whisky in collaboration with Stranger & Stranger and the Isle of Harris Storytelling Team. They wanted the packaging to be material-efficient, distinctive, and capable of telling the brand's story while allowing the bottle to be prominently displayed. The vertical and horizontal patterns of the glass and subtle label patterns evoke the concept of weaving together people and place. The shape of the bottle itself is organic and weathered. The people and place themes are continued in the outer packaging, through the use of debossing, photography of the local islanders and references to the Scottish Gaelic language. The Harris Tweed weaving texture is a historic island textile, protected by a unique act of parliament, and is subtly featured on the label and packaging sleeve to reflect the island’s rich heritage.

The glass bottle, label, stopper, seal and closure are all made from recyclable materials as well as the postal outer, sleeve and brochure. We used biodegradable glues and foils and environmentally friendly inks. Materials used include natural beech T-Wood for the closure; natural Flor cork; Fasson Sable Blanc FSC with Kurz copper foiling; PLA/Polylactic Acid biodegradable polymer; recycled PE with 90%+ plant derivatives. The packaging consists of a 2mm Greyboard wrapped in uncoated self-coloured matt copper and grey, printed in four colours with white screen print and debossed for a luxury finish.

It was released for sale on Saturday 23rd September, and sold out after just 4.5hours online with a reported 1,000 people queuing outside the distillery for up to three hours! Slàinte mhath!