6 of The Best Liquor Bottle Designs for Your Inspiration.

As with any discretionary spending on non-essential items, the purchase of liquor is heavily dependent on buying into a lifestyle. People buy into a type of life, even if they do so subconsciously. We’re willing to bet you’re too smart to fall for those silly TV tricks showing off bikini-clad women and life-of-the-party guys dominated every beer commercial. No, you’re your own thinker, preferring the sophisticated Johnny Walker Blue Label or Patron Silver instead. And we bet you came up with your desire for them on your own, right?

Like it or not, your preference for those brands was likely influenced by the same lifestyle-selling marketers that peddle party-packed beers to the college masses; they just targeted you differently. They use many techniques, but one method is to make the bottle appropriate to the liquor’s target market. Something sleeker will probably appeal to the trendy, next-big-thing-seeking crowd, while more discreet but sophisticated designs will likely appeal to the “old money.” Liquor bottle design plays a big role in selling a certain lifestyle image, and a lot of money goes into the R&D of what a bottle should look like. So, we’ve decided to go over some of the more interesting designs from popular brands.

Here’s a look at six alcohol packaging designs from the spirits category.

Kraken Black Spiced Rum

What do pirates drink? Rum. And what’s enough to make a pirate take up drinking (more so than usual, we mean)? The Kraken, obvs. The stark black and white color scheme of Kraken Black Spiced Rum lends serious class and a touch of the old-fashioned to its own quirky design flavor. The simplicity is a welcome contrast to many overwhelmingly busy labels on a liquor shelf. That giant squid/octopus-looking thing that’s half vicious-looking, half endearing will grab your attention with all umpteen tentacles. Plus, those evil geniuses snagged the tagline “Release the Kraken.” Actually, we might hate them a little for that.

Absolut No Label

Okay, maybe it’s inappropriate to include these buys on a “best labels” list when this one has, in fact, no label. But see, that’s Absolute No Label’s whole schtick. The brand name and bottle design are brilliant, and the concept makes designers facepalm the world over with a collective “Why didn’t I think of that?” This liquor bottle design is part of a larger social commentary from Absolut to underline that what’s inside matters and not the packaging so much. This important sentiment should not be negated by the fact that they then went out and designed an amazing package to sell that message.

Fighting Eagle Vodka

Not to toot our horns, but Fighting Eagle is a seriously hardcore package with a hard-hitting mission: portions of every sale are donated to the Wounded Warrior Project to help support our veterans. The bold colors can’t be mistaken for anything but patriotic, although we added a fierce eagle to underline the point a little more. Brewed in small batches at a private distillery in Austin, Texas, the taste is the equivalent of a 21-gun salute, and the liquor bottle design reflects that.

Medea Vodka

The designers for Medea Vodka were probably sitting around brainstorming—(maybe while testing the product for inspiration)—when someone said, “You know, would be awesome? Programmable liquor bottle labels!” And whoever that Einstein is must have immediately gotten a raise and a bonus because that’s exactly what Medea did. Their bottle labels include an actual LCD screen. With a capacity for up to six different saved messages and allowing more characters than Twitter, Medea’s high-tech labels offer a clever new way to deliver pickup lines. Hopefully, instructions are included.

Crystal Head Vodka

The actual skull shape of the Crystal Head Vodka packaging is fantastic enough to outweigh the possible PTSD flashbacks you might experience if you connect crystal skulls to the fourth Indiana Jones movie. Or, as we like to call it, “What fourth movie?” And as if the bottle weren’t cool enough, the company itself is owned by Dan Aykroyd; if there’s one thing that man knows, it’s the right beverage to drink with two pieces of dry white toast. Although we’re sure, it’s good with many other (classier) dishes.

Milagro Select Barrel Reserve

To finish off our list, how about something that isn’t vodka? Milagro reminds spring breakers of the humble origins responsible for their favorite drink: the spiky agave plant. The nose of the Select Barrel Reserve Silver is described as “agave-forward,” but the same can definitely be said about their actual bottles. Every single bottle houses an integral hand-blown glass agave plant, and each one is unique. Talk about finding your theme and sticking with it.

Next time you’re in dire need of impressing a house guest, give one of these six liquor bottles designs a try. Or even all of them, as long as no one plans to drive later. You are sure to wow them with your random packaging knowledge, and you can even raise a toast together to the creative spirit. L’chaim!

The Best Liquor Bottle Designs

We hope you enjoyed and are motivated by these liquor bottle design examples. Tell us if you found the inspiration to become the next Jack Daniels whiskey or Patron Tequila.

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