To celebrate the Chinese holiday of Lunar New Year, we teamed up with Johnnie Walker and released a limited-edition pack for one of their very special whiskies: John Walker & Sons XR Aged 21 Years.

This superior blended Scotch has tasting notes of caramel, hazelnut and dark chocolate with a long, smoky finish, and comes housed in an Art Deco-inspired bottle with a marbled stopper. The standard pack that wraps the XR21 is gold with metallic finishes, a theme we embellished upon when manufacturing the bespoke Chinese New Year pack.
 
The finished presentation case is constructed from premium, recycled greyboard with a gold metallic paper outer wrap. The front is printed with a stunning illustration by Chinese artist Shan Jiang – who also provided the artwork for the brand’s King George V 2022 pack. To create a sense of depth and texture and enhance the exquisite details of the design – which features a coiled dragon and a galloping horse – we added subtle colour, emboss, deboss and spot UV.
 
The front flap of the pack wraps around to one side, where it is secured in place with a concealed magnet. Upon pulling this open, the user is presented with the whisky, which is showcased within a recess shaped to resemble the bottle and lined with pearlized paper. Two removeable vacuum-formed fitments keep the bottle securely in place, ensuring its safety during transit.
 
Opposite, on the inside of the front flap, we printed some text detailing the story of the XR21 whisky and added the iconic Johnnie Walker logo in striking gold foils.
 
One final feature that we’re particularly proud of is this pack’s starch-based biolaminate, which replaces the standard non-recyclable polylaminate. It’s just one of the ways the GPA family and our dedicated clients are taking steps towards a more sustainable future.