Johnnie Walker has revealed Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra, in what the brand claims is the world’s lightest 70cl Scotch whisky glass bottle to date.

 

The debut of the lightweight bottle is the result of five years’ experimentation by the blended Scotch whisky brand, and weighs 180g without the closure. Johnnie Walker says it approached the projects with an ambition to “move the spirits industry forward”, and bring an understated and delicate look to luxury whisky.

 

The resulting bottle departs from Johnnie Walker’s squared bottles for the first time, with a teardrop shape. Jeremy Lindley, global design director at Diageo, explained: “We took our vision to a team of expert glassmakers and throughout a five-year test-and-learn process slowly discovered how to create elegant, lightweight glass. The technical challenges that lightweighting presents led us to incorporate various design and production specifications that we could not have envisaged at the start of our journey; from the requirement of a tear drop shape which we have moulded to still mimic the iconic square form of Johnnie Walker bottles, to the addition of a protective cage to allow for a round base, and the hand-making and filling of each individual bottle to avoid damages in production.”

 

The project is part of Johnnie Walker parent company Diageo’s Spirit of Progress action plan, under which Johnnie Walker is aiming to reduce the weight of glass in its packaging for a reduction in the associated carbon emissions.

 

Johnnie Walker global brand director Jennifer English said: “Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra is a truly progressive stride forward for Johnnie Walker, Diageo and the industry. We didn’t know what we were going to be able to achieve when we set out to push the boundaries of luxury, and the result is something that many said would not be possible.

 

“This new, lightweight bottle is a thing of exquisite beauty; but more importantly, it demonstrates what is possible when it comes to lightweighting glass. We will continue applying these learnings across our range, taking more progressive strides as we look to the future of Scotch.”

 

Just 888 bottles of the lightweight Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra will ever be produced; the brand says that the technology is not yet available to launch the bottles at scale, permanently. (Each of the 888 bottles has been hand-blown and hand-filled.) However, in order to facilitate progress Diageo will offer a licence to the UK-patented bottle on a royalty-free basis.

 

Inside the lightweight bottle is an exclusive blend created by master blender Dr Emma Walker. The blend includes liquids from Oban, Brora, and Royal Lochnagar distilleries, as well as a selection of “ghost whiskies” made in now-closed distilleries.

 

A limited number of the bottles will be released for sale in 2025 in select markets worldwide, at RRP £1000.

 

The bottle will be debuted at the London Design Festival on Saturday 14 September, at which Johnnie Walker has created an installation to showcase the design elements of Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra.