The Founders’ Casks Part 2: This time, it isn’t part 1! But, if you missed out on The Founders’ Casks Part 1, then CLICK HERE to go back and catch up. Go on, we’ll wait for you.
The Box Paradox
(Don’t worry, we’re not talking about Schrödinger’s Whisky Cat.) We think you would agree that excessive packaging isn’t a good thing. Whether it be board game or courier boxes that are too large, or companies that put unnecesary filler when all you wanted was what you bought. You don’t need to be a tree-hugger and wear hundred-dollar yoga pants to know that. For us, we want to showcase a product that can immediately be identified as premium without something fancy wrapped around it. Even a re-gifted present can feel elevated and original with a bit of wrapping paper and a ribbon, right? Don’t worry, we’re not accusing you of anything.
Sustainable packaging and recycled materials were our go-to for resolving that challenge, so we initially explored using reclaimed wood. After all, if the wood would just end up in a land fill or burned, why not rescue it to adorn whisky? As far as condemned wood goes, that’s quite a rags-to-riches story. Luckily for us, we’re good friends with Mr. Bill, a Shenzhen legend known for his abilities with wood.
Often in disguise as a hobo (his words), and pushing along a two wheeled cart, he consistently scavenges some amazing pieces of wood that he delicately rejuvenates with a bit of elbow grease, a sanding machine, an (un)healthy portion of whisky that we may or may not provide, and some varnish.
Sadly for us, Mr. Bill left China before we were ready to start mass producing The Founders’ Casks packaging, so it was time for Plan B. We found a company in the Longgang district of Shenzhen that fabricated packaging from recycled materials and sustainable fibres. We just needed to design it.
If you know us, you know that meant more workshops, whisky, random scribbles, doodles, giggles, animal chaperones, and fun.
Early concepts were promising and positive.
It turns out designing a box isn’t as easy as it seems (hence the …parabox?). But with more whisky, Zoom meetings, and professional opinions (on boxes…who knew?), we ironed out the problems and came up with something that worked.
Row, Row, Row your 11750 TEU Container Ship, Gently to the UK
Glass, boxes, labels, stoppers, and closures were loaded into a shipping container to our friends over in Wales.
57 days later, the container arrived in the UK and got trucked to our friends in the UK. Yes, we have a lot of friends. Unpacking and bottling soon followed.
Our Friends in the UK
While some brands choose to be difficult and even secretive about who they work with, transparency is one of those words that we consider a foundation and cornerstone to the morals and ethics that we want to build upon. In other words, if a company is dodgy or “acting sus,” we’re not interested.
Our friends in the UK are Penderyn. Yes, THAT Penderyn, the company that brought whisky back to Wales in 2000, when the first spirit came off their stills at their distillery.
Officially launched on St. David’s Day in 2004 by HRH The Prince Of Wales, the Penderyn team, under the leadership of Stephen Davies, have gone on to put the flag of Wales next to their torrential amount of award-winning whiskies across 45 countries.
Stephen and his team did much more than just bottle some whisky. It was the expertise, experience, and passion of Laura, Aista, and Bethan that helped our two grey-haired whisky lovers determine how to shape and craft these whiskies using different casks and cask finishes to create the six different expressions of The Founders’ Casks.
The result? Six distinctly unique styles resting in a cask maturation warehouse in an environment not too dissimilar to our own in Da Chi, Longyan, Fujian province: The future home of Nine Rivers Distillery.
The Final Product
We’re hoping by now you might be eager to see what the final bottlings are, what they look like, and how you can get your mittens on some.
All will be revealed……next time!
Our Thanks
31 of our team have been involved in some capacity to help bring The Founders’ Casks to life. We give our thanks to all of them. However, there are two people here that really need to have some trumpets blown and confetti thrown for just how much they have put into this regarding their time, skills, experience, and delivery.
Darryl, a creative genius from sunny South Africa, has guided us creatively since the very start of the project. He was the first member of the 9RD team that we wrote about last year and if you missed his story you can read it if you CLICK HERE.
Fabien, the yin to Darryl’s yang (platonically), a creative genius from France who has been around literally as long as Darryl has, offers a contrasting experience to create the perfect balance in our visual identity. We’ll be featuring him soon in an article and you can read more about him then.
Before anyone takes the initiative to try and nick either of our guys…..be warned. They are ours. We don’t share. We have a manic mutt, a whisky cat, other faithful familiars from our dedicated team members, and we know how to use them.
Would You Like To Read More?
If you enjoyed reading this, and you would like to catch up with some of our past articles, then please CLICK HERE and go to our News Section, where most of our other content is published.
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