Iconic Scotch whisky brand Johnnie Walker has created a bottle that is 80 percent lighter than traditional ones and is now freely sharing its expertise to inspire others to follow suit

Johnnie Walker has unveiled a limited edition first-of-its kind, boundary-breaking innovation. Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra is the brand’s lightest 70cl Scotch whisky glass bottle to date and to the best of the brand’s knowledge and research, the world’s lightest 70cl Scotch whisky glass bottle. The design takes bold strides and dares to experiment with a recognised paradigm of luxury.

At just 180g without the closure, the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra bottle has been created by adopting a test-and-learn model, designing and exploring without limitation and imagining what the future of lightweight luxury packaging could bring. Along with external glass makers, the brand rethought all aspects of how the bottle is designed, made and transported: from hand-blowing the glass, to using a teardrop shape which, for the first time ever, meant reforming the iconic Johnnie Walker square bottle.

The result is an industry-first that, as well as achieving exquisite beauty, showcases what luxury, lighter-weight, lower-carbon bottles of the future could look like.

Johnnie Walker Global Brand Director, Jennifer English said, “ Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra is a truly progressive stride forward for Johnnie Walker, Diageo and the industry. We didn’t know what we were going to be able to achieve when we set out to push the boundaries of luxury, and the result is something that many said would not be possible. This new, lightweight bottle is a thing of exquisite beauty; but more importantly, it demonstrates what is possible when it comes to lightweighting glass. We will continue applying these learnings across our range, taking more progressive strides as we look to the future of Scotch.”

Global Design Director at Diageo, Jeremy Lindley who led the design project, said, “ Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra was born out of an ideation session looking at the future of luxury. With other categories moving towards lightweight – such as eyewear and high-performance cycling – we questioned whether luxury spirits could follow suit. We took our vision to a team of expert glassmakers and throughout a five year test-and-learn process slowly discovered how to create elegant, lightweight glass. The technical challenges that lightweighting presents led us to incorporate various design and production specifications that we could not have envisaged at the start of our journey; from the requirement of a tear drop shape which we have moulded to still mimic the iconic square form of Johnnie Walker bottles, to the addition of a protective cage to allow for a round base, and the hand-making and filling of each individual bottle to avoid damages in production. Rather than hold this new knowledge close to our chest, we’re excited to be offering a royalty-free licence to our granted UK patent to the world. We hope that our discoveries will have a positive impact within the wider industry and help discover new possibilities for lighter, lower carbon packaging alternatives. ”

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra is a prototype that showcases what luxury, lighter-weight, lower-carbon bottles of the future could look like. With this and the Diageo Spirit of Progress action plan, Johnnie Walker aims to reduce the weight of glass used in its packaging; an ambition that is aimed at reducing the amount of carbon emissions associated with packaging.

Whilst the technology is not yet available to launch bottles of this weight at scale, permanently, the knowledge Johnnie Walker has garnered is already being applied to lightweighting projects across the Diageo portfolio.

For more information on the design, visit Diageo's website or follow them on Instagram .

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