Yes, we believe that spirits packaging can have a lower impact on the environment. From the outset, as part of our mission to be a fierce protector of nature, we have carefully considered every element of our packaging and labels to make sure that we have as low an impact on the environment as we can. Our Head of Sustainability Amy has hunted high and low to find the best packaging suppliers who align with our objectives of reducing carbon emissions and increasing recyclability. We aim to have as low a packaging footprint as possible without compromising on design, to ensure that our whisky bottles look as good as the spirit tastes.
100% POST-CONSUMER RECYCLED GLASS BOTTLES
Unlike most whisky distilleries, we bottle our whisky in 100% post-consumer recycled glass. And back when we launched our inaugural release in 2020, this was a first for Scotch whisky. Our bottles have a slightly greenish blue tint to them, and each one is unique with occasional imperfections and air bubbles. For most distilleries, anything outside of ‘extra flint’ (totally crystal clear) glass isn’t good enough, but we like our perfectly imperfect bottles just as they are. Especially, since they have a 40% lower carbon footprint than a bottle made from virgin glass, and have an infinite life cycle.
If you would like to learn a bit more about the carbon impact of glass and how recycled glass is made, click here to read our chat with our sustainability guru Amy. Looking ahead, our next goal is to bottle our Botanical Spirit in 100% recycled glass. Our Botanical Spirit bottle is currently made from flint glass, which has less than 35% recycled glass content. At the moment it’s a small percentage of the products we bring to market, but we are looking to transition over to recycled glass during 2025.
BOTTLE PRINT
We print directly onto the bottle using water-based inks which are non-toxic and considered much better for the environment when the bottles go into recycling streams.
NATURAL CORK STOPPER
Our stoppers are made from natural cork with a wooden top. Cork is an incredible resource, as you don’t even need to chop the tree down to harvest it. Cork is stripped from the tree then allowed to re-grow again in an infinite cycle. Though natural cork is not widely recycled in household recycling in the UK, the whole stopper will break down happily in your home compost. Some of our team have even repurposed the stoppers into key rings which we sell in our distillery shop.
TAMPERS
When we were looking for the most natural way to seal our bottles, we were chuffed to come across a biodegradable tamper. As opposed to plastic, our alternative is made from renewably sourced wood pulp extracts. This means you can pop it in your food waste bin with your apple cores and banana skins, or even in your home compost.
LABELS
The batch collar around the neck of our bottle is made from uncoated paper. The small, clear side label is the only part of our packaging which is made from plastic. We are aiming to change these to a bioplastic, just like our tamper made from wood pulp in the coming months.
THE CHOICE TO OPT FOR LESS PACKAGING
Typically, almost all premium whiskies come in gift boxes. So instead of making these compulsory for our flagship single malt, we give people the option to buy our whisky with or without the cardboard tube. In the UK when shopping from our website or at our distillery, we give all Nc’nean consumers the choice of buying without the gift tube to reduce the carbon footprint of their purchase. The tube itself is made from 90% recycled cardboard and can be recycled in household recycling.
We also offer all our distributors and importers in export markets, plus all retailer and wholesalers in the UK the option to buy our flagship whisky without gift boxes. This year, 33% of our bottles were sold without gift tube compared with 11% last year.
REFILLS
We have a distillery refill station in our bar which is a handy option for locals and returning visitors to reuse their bottles, whist saving a few pounds at the same time. We would love to be able to roll out refill stations to all our partners in hospitality and retail, however this is not as easy as you would think due to some tricky laws surrounding bottling Scotch whisky (according to law this must only be done in Scotland), and issues with finding the perfect packaging solution - but we are continuing to plug away at this. We have also considered setting up a system whereby people from further afield can post back their bottles to the distillery as part of a recycle scheme, however given that the carbon footprint of each bottle is 40% lower than virgin glass, the carbon generated to send bottles back would actually be higher. We suggest your recycle, or get creative with upcycling your bottles into something new.
BOTTLING ON SITE
Despite being a small distillery, in the construction planning phase, Annabel decided that most of our whisky bottling and labelling should be done on site. This is beneficial for both flexibility and demand (we can decide to change a label quickly if needs be), but more importantly great for boosting local employment. At the very beginning, the bottling process started out with an all hands-on deck approach where Drimnin locals were employed to help fill bottles with our spirit. These early employees, Douglas and Torran are now full time Nc’nean distillery operators who split their time working with Sarah in the bottling room and in the distillery making the whisky with the rest of the production team. Sarah’s bottling room runs like clockwork (most of the time!) where every label is carefully placed and positioned before the bottles are loaded onto pallets ready to be sold.
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR
When checking to see whether packaging is sustainable, there are a few things that you can easily look out for:
1. Look for 100% recycled on the label
2. Look for natural cork stoppers with wooden tops, not plastic
3. Green or brown glass usually has a higher recycled content
4. Opt for bottles without the gift tube where possible
If you would like to learn more about what we are doing to protect our planet and pioneer sustainable production, feel free to check out our latest sustainability report here.