Archie Rose – Six Malt New Make

Design: Squad Ink
Creative Director: Matthew Squadrito
Designer: Robbie North
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: Archie Rose
Photography: Lucas Peng
Photography: Nikki To
Location: Potts Point, Australia
Packaging Contents: Spirits
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass Bottle, Paper
Printing Process: Digital Print, Gold Foil

Six Malt New Make is the second Limited Release spirit from Sydney’s Archie Rose Distilling Co. It offers whisky lovers a glimpse into how the base spirit of Archie Rose Single Malt Whisky starts its life – unaged, unfiltered and wonderfully raw.

“The real magic is in the malts. While the vast majority of single malt whiskies typically feature one or two malt mash bills, for this spirit, we’ve taken it to an impressive six; each one meticulously sourced, trialled and tested to maximise on flavour. The varieties, growing conditions and apparent flavours of these malts are distinctly Australian and we wanted to give a voice to that individuality,” says Dave Withers, Master Distiller.

Squad Ink celebrates the six malts and their provenance story through illustration and tactile production finishes. The real show-piece is the hexagon formed box that houses the bottle. It provides the perfect canvas to bring the concept to life. The illustration that wraps the box incorporates layered earthy tones that represent the spirit flavour profile – dark chocolate, coffee, roasted nuts and toffee. The experience is further enriched with the application of a coarse sandpaper varnish on selected areas and highlights of gold foil to elevate the product.

The unique whisky box structure challenges category conventions with a fresh approach to whisky packaging drawing the customer in for a closer inspection with an impressive reveal of the product tucked away inside. Reinforcing Archie Rose’s commitment to education and transparency around spirit-making, the inside of box offers the customer insightful information about the Archie Rose spirit-making ethos and a deep dive into the unique flavour characteristics of each six artisanal malts.

The design cues have been tastefully carried across from the box through to the bottle label design with the adoption of a fresher colour palette to compliment the crystal clear spirit. Also the use of premium vellum label stocks, textural embossing and detailed gold foil add to the experience.

With the highly anticipated release of the distillery’s aged whiskies set to launch next year this limited release new make paves the way for a whisky conversation to develop between Archie Rose and it’s customers.