The Tales of Two Cities
Upstart Distillers in Portland and Philadelphia Find Unique Spirits Stories to Tell for Gin, Vodka, and Absinthe
By Ron Romanik
When absinthe was made legal in the U.S. again after a 92-year ban on the distilled spirit, Europe had beaten the U.S. to the market with dozens of new absinthe brands. The vilified spirit had been suspected of having dangerously addictive psychoactive powers and causing insane and criminal behavior. European countries had begun repealing their bans over the past decade, and a few U.S. distillers, such as the small-batch distillery Integrity Spirits in Portland, OR, were ready for the U.S. repeal. Award-winning master distiller Kieran Sienkiewicz and his Integrity Spirits partner, apprentice distiller Richard Phillips, had been refining their own formula for a couple of years.
Sienkiewicz and Phillips had been brewing up a business plan for a line of distilled spirits that included vodka, gin, and absinthe. The partners had carefully considered how to position their brands in these highly competitive categories. With the help of ID Branding, also in Portland, they quickly decided that the best direction would be to capitalize on their pride in the city of Portland.
Phillips never saw this as a limitation. “We can tap into things that are uniquely Portland,” says Phillips, “but still have a broadness to appeal to all regions.” For instance, the gin makes the most of how Portlanders take pride in their bridges, the vodka takes pride in the history and landmarks of the city, and the absinthe taps into the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
Similarly, across the continent’s amber waves of grain, another small-batch distiller was cooking up a business plan for three similar spirits. Philadelphia Distilling , located in Northeast Philadelphia, had their own local stories to tell. Their gin’s bottle design is an homage to Revolutionary War freedom fighters, the vodka honored the founding of Pennsylvania by William Penn, while the absinthe found appropriate French roots in New Orleans.
What neither of these companies did was create any relatedness, or a parent brand, among their three brands. Doug Lowell, executive creative director at ID Branding explains Integrity Spirits’ rationale by asking a rhetorical question: “Are we going to be a branded house or a house of brands?” In the long tradition of spirits, says Lowell, branding with a parent house brand name often indicates a lower priced, or value, product. “We wanted each product to have its own vision and world view,” he says.
Andrew Auwerda, president of Philadelphia Distilling, believes their products and bottle designs successfully link the present and the past, each in its own way. “We wanted it to be historic but relevant,” he says. The bottles have a cool, hip, and luxurious appeal while still referencing the past in relatable ways to consumers.
“Philadelphia Distilling had a clear vision of what they wanted,” says Isabelle Da Rold, creative director of ID-26 Creative in New York City. “It started with the names, really.”
Da Rold is proud of the modern simplicity of the Bluecoat American Dry Gin brand, the honest natural appeal of the Penn 1681 Rye Vodka brand, and the bohemian intrigue of the Vieux Carré Absinthe brand.
Like a local craft beer or a regional winery, both distilleries leverage the unique cultural cues and local flavors of their hometowns. Lowell believes the three spirits bottles from Integrity Spirits proudly proclaim “From Portland.” For instance, ID Branding chose the name Lovejoy for the vodka first and foremost because it was a name long associated with Portland—as a busy street in the city, an important fountain (designed by Lawrence Halprin), and the pioneer citizen who actually named Portland by winning a coin toss.
For Philadelphia Distilling’s flagship spirit, Bluecoat Gin, the emblem “etched” onto the bottle bears a strong resemblance to the seal on the Pennsylvania flag. The Penn 1681 Vodka has the state founder’s name and founding date in the brand name itself. As time goes on, consumers’ increasing urge to buy local may be whetted by these high-quality local brands, and it is likely others will follow.
12 Bridges Gin
ID Branding felt the 12 Bridges’ unusual gin flavor profile and its mixed heritage of both genever and London dry style made it an natural fit for Portland’s quirky, smart, and unusual character. The 12 Bridges name is a reference to the 12 spans that cross the Willamette and Columbia Rivers within the Portland city limits. Each of these bridges is iconic it is own right, and together they add quite a bit to the city’s personality. As it happened, the gin’s recipe features 12 different botanicals.
The 12 Bridges bottle’s look and feel is designed to speak to a spirits connoisseur who is interested in the range of taste profiles that a gin can offer. The 12 Bridges packaging is therefore designed to stand apart and to outwardly represent the surprising and unusual experience contained within. To further increase intrigue, ID Branding suggested releasing 12 different versions of the bottle, one at a time, each featuring a different bridge’s image and history. Collector and gin drinkers will look for each new edition over the next few years, as the bottles move from the oldest bridge to the newest.
Lovejoy Vodka
ID Branding’s over-arching strategy for Integrity Spirits is to own the association with Portland, OR, its hometown. Portland has a rare and specific cachet as an idiosyncratic and eclectic city that is attracting members of the creative class from all over the country. The Integrity Spirits vision is to be the same kind of distillery: inventive, unusual, and thought-provoking. Separate from the historic significance of the name, Lovejoy as a word itself, combining “love” and “joy,” seemed to evoke the vodka cocktail culture and club scene perfectly.
The bottle shape consciously refers to fashion and perfume shapes rather than traditional liquor shapes. Because Integrity Spirits is a startup with little money for promotion and advertising, ID Branding created a series of labels with four label patterns and colors for the same product in order to catch attention and prolong product involvement. The concept is recognition of the importance design plays in today’s world, and the fact that people like to have aesthetic choices.
Trillium Absinthe Supérieure
The alchemist creators of Trillium Absinthe Supérieure named it for an exquisite wildflower found in the Pacific Northwest when they were camping near a large meadow full of Trillium. In keeping with its historic French-Impressionist roots, the liquor is handcrafted in small batches with all-natural botanicals: lemon balm, damiana, hyssop, star anise, and wormwood. The bottle was imported from France and screen printed with an elaborate label depicting each of the botanicals used in its creation. Pam Lazoff, production manager at ID Branding, discovered a brand new shape from Saverglass that perfectly fit absinthe’s wine-bottle-shaped heritage while bringing something new and unmistakably different to the game.
The label concept for Trillium, which called for printing directly on the curvy bottle, was challenging in its own right, and the design calls for the use of a precious metal and multiple colors. The printing required eleven screens and four passes through the press. The overall impact of the package design reassures consumers firstly that this is, in fact, real absinthe. Secondly, the bottle stands out and proclaims its difference from the other brands that have since stormed the market.
Bluecoat American Gin
Philadelphia Distilling and Isabelle Da Rold, creative director of ID-26 Creative in New York City, determined that the signature cobalt blue of Bluecoat Gin should be a defining package design characteristic. The idea was to rebel against the prevailing reds of the establishment “redcoat” gins with the spirit of the Continental Army exemplified. The painted-on blue does not have purple overtones like many modern spirits, and the retro bottle’s sophistication and class combine to convey American premium.
Several military cues add to the complete story, with a military lapel closure seal, wrap-around collar, and reflective gold lettering. The bottle is formed from a custom-designed mold with depressed and embossed Bluecoat signature sides for ergonomics. A Bluecoat coat of arms, with a horse motif inspired by Pennsylvania’s flag, is etched into the glass to relate both the region’s and the company’s heritage. The subtle texture enlivens the senses and the etched areas catch the eye by reflecting differently from different light angles. The bottle opens with an expensive-sounding cork pop sound, the classic wood top reflects history and quality, and the tall neck makes pouring easy.
Penn 1681 Rye Vodka
Pennsylvania pride shows through in the idyllic label of the Penn 1681 Vodka by Philadelphia Distilling. The surrounding counties boast rolling hills of verdant fields of grain lost in time. The company wanted to create a label with a picture that could have been a postcard snapshot taken 300 years ago, when William Penn founded the commonwealth in 1681. The adhesive-back label has an opaque white layer that is then printed with seven colors and a gold stamp, and the script is reminiscent of writing one might find on the Declaration of Independence, which was signed in Philadelphia.
The goal was to set the vodka apart as organic, local, and very green. Philadelpha Distilling president Andrew Auwerda says the distiller wanted the label to express primarily the feeling of: “From the farm to your table.” Da Rold goes on to emphasize the timelessness of the scene that could define the essence of the spirit inside, a scene “that could embody the feeling that you’re drinking the landscape.”
Vieux Carré Absinthe Supérieure
For the Vieux Carré Absinthe bottle, the Philadelphia Distilling found its inspiration in a different North American city, New Orleans. The French-inspired design stems partly from the French brand name. Some New Orleans natives still call The French Quarter by the name Vieux Carré, or “Old Square,” and the cubic-shape bottle plays on that association. The design also calls on cues of old-world cosmetics bottles, only in a much larger format.
The French Quarter is also known for its wrought iron railings, which are replicated on the bottle design of Vieux Carré. The bottle and pattern design create the impression that it is an established brand, and the clear bottle creates a reveal effect with the murky Absinthe inside. “As the liquid goes down, the bottle actually gets better looking,” says Auwerda. Da Rold explains further: “It’s kind of like a veil, because there it a mystery about Absinthe.”
