As part of a wider whisky popular culture mapping exercise, we’d noticed there wasn’t a Scotch that sat comfortably in the world of ‘whisky style’, as epitomised by the likes of Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire. So we set out to create a Scotch that would tear up the rules in terms of liquid (not a malt, but a grain whisky), bottle shape and colour (not round but square, not green or brown) and use of materials (copper - a luxurious but authentic nod to the copper stills used in the distilling process).

To execute a square bottle is extremely challenging. Delivering even colour density and glass thickness, structural stability, emboss clarity as well as meeting stringent health and safety standards for the internal cleaning of the bottle cavity means that a square bottle wasn’t easy to achieve.

All of the above ambitions were in service of creating a new, distinctive and contemporary Scotch brand, underpinned with authentic storytelling heritage and carrying the name of Scotland’s oldest distilling family, Haig.

The final outcome delivers an iconic and stylish new Scotch to the whisky category that forces reappraisal and through aesthetics and liquid accessibility, recruits new consumers to the category.

Whisky storytelling is ingrained throughout the product design. The stylish cobalt blue bottle is directly inspired by the blue nosing glasses used by whisky blenders; the copper stopper, with an especially designed Haig Club crest inlay, references copper whisky stills; the glass embossed name and crest is a return to early Victorian styling cues - that era being a key period in the growth of the scotch whisky industry; and finally the bottle’s distinctive square silhouette is a break with Scotch bottle design tradition, but still very much part of Haig’s heritage of mould breaking within the category.

The outer carton packaging eschews traditional Scotch packaging, in favour of an iconic double fronted pack, allowing retailers the freedom to play with the on-shelf presentation. Its clean aesthetic jumps out and the check pattern deboss and foil blocked stopper bring real tactility.

Haig Club won three World Whiskies Design Awards: ‘Best Standard Design”; “Best New Launch Design” and the “Grand Prix” award of “World’s Best Whisky Design”.