The World’s Two Best-Selling Scotch Brands Look a Little Different
Scotch is often seen as an intimidating drink, conjuring up images of rich old men with cigars and named after faraway regions, as opposed to an American whiskey like Jack Daniels, which conjures up drunken twentysomethings and is named after Tennessee. But though Scotch certainly has its flavor differences, in the end, it’s just another type of whiskey, and with the spirits industry booming a bit, apparently some of the biggest names in Scotch believe that sprucing up their packaging might be enough to lure in a new generation of Scotch lovers — no cigars required.
Last week, Glenfiddich — the world’s best-selling Scotch brand — launched a redesign and renaming of its core range of single malt Scotch whiskies. Interestingly enough, this comes on the heels of news last month that Glenlivet — the world’s second best-selling Scotch brand — was doing the same thing.
The Glenfiddich refresh — which currently applies to the brand’s 12- and 15-year-old whiskies (the 18-year will apparently get the treatment next year) — features an entirely new bottle with a prominent “V” engraved between the neck and the label. Speaking of the labels, the age statement is significantly larger, popping against a new white background. The 12-year is being called “Our Original Twelve,” and the 15-year is now “Our Solera Fifteen.” According to the site Scotch Whiskey, Glenfiddich explained that they hoped the changes would “appeal to current drinkers as well as entice those around the world who are new to the brand and category.”
Meanwhile, though Glenlivet’s redesign last month wasn’t as drastic (the gist of the bottles feels more the same than Glenfiddich’s update), the brand said it had similar intentions. “With bright and bold new packaging on a clear bottle and a newly designed logo, The Glenlivet is opening up to a new era of whisky consumers with a new look but the same smooth taste,” a spokesperson told us at the time.
Whether these new labels will actually help sell more Scotch to younger people in the U.S. is yet to be seen, but by tweaking the packaging on these more entry-level offerings, at the very least maybe it will remind people that not every bottle of Scotch costs $1 million a pop.
