There probably couldn’t be a more appropriate day for us to announce the launch of our first series of bottlings, The Founders’ Casks, than World Whisky Day 2022. So let us tell you all about it and you might even be able to snatch a reservation on some of the last few bottles…
The Backstory to The Founders’ Casks
Way back in 2017, on a rather grim Saturday morning, two grey haired whisky lovers piled into a coffee shop in the hinterlands of Shenzhen and started to scribble out some early concepts of how Nine Rivers Distillery could work as a business. 4 or 5 coffees into it and with some 30 pages of scribble and doodles spread across three tables, the idea came up about being able to demonstrate the types of whisky we would want to craft as an introduction to prospective investors. After all, no one really wants to be a part of something that they might not even like, do they? No one wants to be part of a distillery that makes whisky that they wouldn’t even want to drink themselves.
They worked out how many casks they already had between them, which whiskies might serve best as base whiskies, what types of cask finish might help to create the styles that would best define 9RD, who we could involve to help create these cask finishes and how to eventually bottle them.
After what felt like an entire cask of coffee between then, they shook hands, patted each other on the back and both decided that this would be a doddle. It was only days before they both realised it would be anything but a doddle.
While neither of them will want to be named, they don’t write this content, so we can tell you all anyway – it was Jay and Jeff. So if there are fingers to point and blame to be thrown around, you all know the correct direction to face.
The Proverbial Snowball
The concept was talked about with other founders of our project, and suddenly they all wanted bottles. Some founders wanted a keepsake. Some founders just wanted something to chug with their friends. It turned into gossip, the story got dropped into a whisky group, and suddenly the demand was for hundreds of bottles. Everyone wanted in on it.
That’s when we realised that this would end up being considerably more than just a few dozen samples. It was a “thing”. So if it was going to be a “thing” then we would make it into a real, serious, professional “thing”. If bottles with our name were going to face the public, then they had to set the benchmark for the quality and standards that we wanted to underpin our name with to the world.
What’s In A Name?
While Juliet argued that names are arbitrary in Act 2, Scene 2 of that literally classic penned by Shakespeare, when it comes to products a name can have a significant impact on success or failure. Brand names are normally the first interaction that a consumer will have with a product. Typically, when consumers hear a name it will immediately create a positive (or negative) impression within the mindset of a consumer. It’s the very first word, of the first chapter in the story of the relationship between a consumer and a brand. An impression that will normally last a lifetime.
After a lot of brain farts, and a few near misses with suggestions from people that *might* have been a tiny bit drunk we had a list of names that ranged from eyebrow-raisers to absolute horrors.
Luckily for us some sanity kicked in and we decided to call our first release exactly what it is. A selection of bottlings to demonstrate the types of whisky we aim to craft conceptualised by two of our founders – so logic led us to call them, The Founders’ Casks.
A Pain in the Glass
The next big decision to make was whether we used generic glass, or designed our own bottles from scratch. Bespoke glass would have massive MOQ’s and costs for mold. So we explored a few different ways to make generic glass look a bit more interesting. Hand painting each bottle was going to be a challenge, so we tried a few different types of screen printing.
A few of the screen printing concepts worked quite well, but it was still a bit, well, “meh”, and that just wasn’t good enough for us. It was time to roll up our sleeves and work out how to design our own bottles. What better way to do that than a 9RD workshop exploring various bottle shapes while emptying them of their contents? All in the name of research of course.
We tried to capture all of the elements of who we are as a company, what we want to be as a brand and communicate to the world that we aren’t just another startup distillery. We wanted to share our name with the world and have it on our glass. Bold. Prominent. Distinctive. To demonstrate the pride that we have in who we are and what we are doing.
We wanted a modern style in the branding, the labelling and the packaging. We knew we wanted a tall bottle, with a long neck, creating synergies with our stills. We also agreed that the brand engagement with our customers would last right until the last drop – hence the embossed bottom of the bottle, with our logo, which every whisky lover will see as the last dram pours out of their bottle.
It’s quite amazing how a good lashing of whisky can fuel creativity and under the leadership of Muffin the manic mutt, we thought we were onto something.
Half a dozen workshops later (both online and offline) we had enough to start cranking out some 3D printed prototypes of our bottle concept. This helped it to see where there could be potential problems in glass production. Little quirks in the detail that could potentially be achieved with a glass mold that aren’t so obvious on a digital image.
Mold in the Wold
With the glass designs completed, we sent them up to Yun Cheng County, in Shandong, where we had the mold engraved ready to make the glass bottles for The Founders’ Casks.
Then it was time to get the old sand cooker up to 1700 degrees C, and we were ready to start making glass. Being a heavy, flint-style glass, it needed a few more things thrown into the mix, but let’t not turn this into a boring science lesson (yawn). Let’s keep it simple – it’s liquid sand blown into a mold, allowed to cool, annealed briefly, allowed to cool again – then bingo bongo we had bottles.
Cascables and Labels
19 concepts, 5 different design work-streams and at least 2 jingley meltdowns before we eventually came up with the design for the labels. We got them printed, shipped out to the bottling company and sat back in comfy chairs relaxed and content. Another job well done. Bring on the next challenge!
Watch Out Next Week For Part Two
There’s more to this story. In fact, an entire part 2 to look forward to. But you’ll have to wait until next week to read the conclusion and find out how you might be able to get your hands on The Founders’ Casks.
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