Orkney Distillery's Kirkjuvagr gins get design revamp

Orkney Distillery has leaned into its island heritage in a bottle redesign for its Kirkjuvagr Gin range.

The bespoke new bottles feature several nods to the company's Orcadian roots: a repeating wave pattern wraps around the body of the bottle, symbolising the island's seafaring traditions; the old Norse world Afl - translating as 'strong' - is written around the neck in Runes; and Vegvisir, the mythical Norse compass, is stamped into the bottle and etched onto the closure.

Designed in partnership with spirits packaging specialist Stoelzle Flaconnage, the new-look bottles have been released in tandem with a consolidation of Orkney Distillery's product range - the summer-inspired Harpa Gin is set to be discontinued, while Beyla and Aurora will both increase from 50cl to 70cl bottles. The distillery is also set to install a new bottling line to support a planned increase in production capacity.

Stephen Kemp, Orkney Distilling Limited's co-owner, said: "We've been continually developing the company now for almost six years. A key component of our brand development plan has always been this move into the super-premium packaging category, which now aligns the package with the modernity and high quality of other aspects of the brand and the company's operation.

"The dramatic change in circumstances caused by Covid-19 and the lockdown created space and time for us to really focus on these projects as a team. We worked tirelessly for over a year to take them to fruition, and the super-premium package you now see really captures our story and helps us reinforce our prominent position within Scotland's fantastic array of craft gin brands, whilst our new bottling line will enable us to serve larger markets."

The updated range of Kirkjuvagr Gins is available via the distillery, and from premium spirits distributors and independent retailers.

3 December 2021 - Bethany Whymark