January 2015
ARDAGH NAVIGATES NEW WATERS WITH SAILOR JERRY
Ardagh Group has achieved two memorable "firsts" on the new bottle of Sailor Jerry, a premium spiced rum from William Grant & Sons.
Thanks to detailed and painstaking work at the company's design and technical centre, Ardagh has been able for the first time to produce at its Scottish plant in Irvine a cork mouthed bottle using its weight saving 'narrow neck press and blow' (NNPB) glass manufacturing process.
Whilst a cork mouth finish is relatively straightforward to produce using the blow blow process, it was untested and far more difficult under NNPB conditions. Ardagh technicians found a means of successfully performing this task.
The second 'first' came in the form of neck embossing - the first time this has been applied by Ardagh for the UK spirits sector.
The results of these two innovations is a bottle that is 20 per cent lighter and also able to display a more impressive and uniquely located embossed branding on the prominent neck feature.
Global Brand Director for Sailor Jerry, Julie Doyle commented: "Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum was developed to continue the legacy of Norman 'Sailor Jerry' Collins and was inspired by his era, when goods were made by hand and people had a stronger sense of pride in their work. The new packaging has been introduced to align the brand's look and old school feel with the premium, authentic nature of the spirit."
The company began by producing clothing with the flash artwork of Sailor Jerry and quickly built a cult following. Sailor Jerry Spiced was created based on the old-school tradition of sailors spicing their high-proof rum rations. Sailor Jerry spent half his life as a sailor and the other half tattooing them, so making a spiced rum in his honour was an obvious choice.
For more details, visit the Sailor Jerry website www.sailorjerry.com
