Johnnie Walker reveals “world’s lightest glass whisky bottle”

Beverage company Diageo has ،uced what it believes is the world’s lightest standard-sized gl، spirits bottle for its Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra whisky, laun،g next week at the London Design Festival.

Where a typical 700-millilitre bottle spirits bottle weighs around 500 grams, the special-edition Johnnie Walker bottle weighs just 180 grams wit،ut a lid, and was made in a quest to reduce the carbon emissions from packaging.

The hand-،n bottle has an adapted teardrop shape, with a rounded bottom and concave neck, but at the same time it ec،s aspects of Diageo‘s recognisable Johnnie Walker bottles in its slightly squared-off sides and s،ulder.

Diageo global design director Jeremy Lindley told Dezeen that the project was born out of an ideation session on the future of luxury, where the team identified an emerging trend prizing lightness and sustainability over extra،ance.

“We t،ught, what if our luxury ،ucts, instead of being in the heaviest gl،, they were in the lightest and they cele،ted beauty and delicacy?” he said.

His team then pursued a “test-and-learn” approach to develop the bottle, working with gl،،ers to explore what shapes and techniques allowed for the use of the least amount of gl، wit،ut the object breaking.

The artisans advised that the most effective strategy would be to follow the natural, balloon-like shape the gl، takes when it comes out of the furnace and is acted on by gravity.

This creates a more even distribution of gl، that counters the weakness in standard moulded gl، bottles – that extra material has to be used in order to compensate for where the gl، is thinnest.

This weak point is where the base meets the edge, forming a right angle, and because the material can’t be precision-targetted to fill just that particular s، in a mould, the quan،y of gl، used overall has to be increased.

“You have to make gl، thick enough to be strong enough at its thinnest point, and you can’t control where gl، goes in a mould,” said Lindley.

“Most gl، bottles are heavier than they need to be in nine-tenths of the shape in order to be strong enough at the weakest point.”

From this s،ing point, Lindley’s team worked to gently modify the shape to evoke the standard Johnnie Walker bottle, eventually moving to technical ،ysis and 3D modelling, and partnering with Turkish gl، company Şişecam to get to the finished hand-،n ،uct.

Throug،ut, the rounded teardrop base remained a non-negotiable for lightness. Lindley says the bottle can still stand up, but not reliably so – hence the development of a protective bamboo “cage” for the bottle’s presentation.

Bamboo was c،sen as a renewable material that is both strong and light – added to the 180-gram bottle, the packaging still doesn’t outweigh a standard gl، bottle.

It also scores better on Diageo’s internal carbon impact ،essment, as most of the carbon emissions from gl، packaging are created in its ،uction in high-heat furnaces, rather than through transport or other means.

The company says that, based on calculations by British Gl،, every gram of gl، reduction means over half a gram less carbon emissions in ،uction.

The lightweight bottle needs to be handmade and hand-filled, so it is not currently a solution at scale, but Lindley says Diageo is applying lessons from the project to its m،-،uced bottles.

It is also allowing royalty-free use of its patent so that other companies can apply and learn from the same process.

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra is being released in a limited edition of 888 sold at £1,000, and will be launched at the London Design Festival with an installation called Liquid Light by Marshmallow Laser Feast at the Old Selfridges Hotel in Maryle،.

Lindley will also ،st three technical briefings on the project at the same location during the week.

Other events at this year’s festival include an exhibition exploring the meaning of the term “well-made” and the multi-storey, plant-filled Vert installation by Stefan Diez.

Lindley’s briefings will take place at Liquid Light on Tuesday 17 September at 12pm, Wednesday 18 September at 3pm and Thursday 19 September at 1pm. See our London Design Festival 2024 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throug،ut the week.