Once the only thing that mattered was the liquid inside the bottle – not the bottle itself. While some of the big players had distinct bottles, nothing stood out unless you consider that tall, now dust-covered bottle of Galliano on the back of the pub shelf, once used for making 1970s classic Harvey Wallbangers.

But the rising popularity of craft gin during the last 10-years has created a strong need to stand out among a field of many competitors. What has happened to gin is now happening to whisky, rum and bourbon.

You can no longer can have a great liquid and average branding. In every aspect of your product, you need to be at the top of your game and this definitely includes the bottle.

A few episodes past we did a feature on Shivering Mountain Distillery. It is impossible not to mention their gin without mentioning their very distinct bottle. We’ve been contacted by listeners asking for more information; in this episode we’ll be joined by Nolan Kane of the Leeds-based Allied Glass who was involved with making Shivering Mountain’s bottle.

For distillers in the UK and Ireland you are fortunate to have numerous glass bottle manufacturers and dealers. Some of these include Beatson Clark, Croxsons, Estal, and Covim. While for this episode we talked to Allied Glass, remember you have a lot choice.