Colour and shape of the bottle

[shanel23]

Just arrived home last night and decided to have a drop of whiskey as a nightcap and reached in for the Aldi 8 yr old blend and as I poured the whiskey I was thinking to myself how visually appealing the clear bottle and cork was ( the label on this bottle not so much ) . It got me to thinking what others think is the best way to present a whiskey in terms of bottle colour , shape and stopper (cork or screw) . For me I love cork tops and I think I totally prefer the clear bottle to the green or brown . as for the shape it's hard to beat the Midleton vr type - certainly not a gan of the Collins shapes

[John]

Hi Shane,

Despite the fact that the New World wine industry is moving gradually towards screw-tops from corking, I have to say that in general (for both wine and whiskey) I much prefer those with a cork. Can't say why exactly; perhaps it's just an appearance thing! On the bottle-colour issue, I personally feel that a clear bottle is better becasue it allows you to examine the contents more efficiently.

Did you open the Ballydoyle by the way? Are you a horsey fan or did you just want to try it out?

J.

[shanel23]

Hi John,

I have it on the list to be opened and tried list

Not a horsey man at all just liked the bottle and fancied having one for the collection .

Cheers
Shane

[DavidH]

I like square bottles (like Bushmills and JW) because I can fit more of them on a shelf.

I also like the clear glass, as long as the contents are not dyed to compensate. Knappogue Castle is a good, honest bottle, for example.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Have to agree with you guys on Clear Glass ... prefer to see what I'm drinking.

In relation to bottle shape.

I think my favourite Irish bottle shape is currently the Powers 12yo bottle which is different to any other bottle on the market.

I also like the new shape to Bushmills.

I also admired the Kilbeggan 15yo as cool radical bottle design and as a Luxury blend think it adds more than more traditional designs to accentuate it's luxury status.

But as long as it holds good whiskey I'll like any shape

[JohnM]

Shape is very important, as is colour. People tend to be attracted to the darker whiskies, so if it's naturally dark, it's a good idea to have it in a clear bottle.

And bar staff will tell you that (I think they will anyway) when customers see unusually striking bottles like the Kilbeggan 15, they go for it more than if it was in a normal bottle.

Then there's Michael Collins, which doesn't fit on bar shelves...

[Willie JJ]

I like bottles that are clear so I can see what's inside and I like bottles that are cheap so that I'm not paying for packaging which I am not going to drink. I do like the sound of pulling a cork, but they do fail ocassionally which is annoying.