Great spirits packaging can do far more than catch the eye. It can communicate a sense of place and signal craftsmanship before the bottle is opened. It can also tell a story that deepens the drinker’s connection to what is inside. The Design and Packaging Masters competition, part of The Global Spirits Masters Competitions run by The Spirits Business, is built on that idea.
Each year, the judges review bottles from across the industry. They look for designs that are beautiful, useful, sustainable, and commercially smart. Only a small group earns the top Master medal. Four whiskies reached that level this year. Each one stood out for different reasons, and each one shows how thoughtful design and strong whisky making can work together.
Here are the four Master medal-winning bottles from the whisky categories, and what makes them special.
How the Design & Packaging Awards Work
The Design and Packaging Masters sits within The Global Spirits Masters Competitions. The program is run by The Spirits Business. The judges look at appearance, usability, clarity of information, and sustainability. They also consider how well a product communicates its identity through shape, material, color, and detail.
Judging takes place in London. Six experts took part in 2025. The group included Melita Kiely, Diogo Lopes, David T Smith, Ruchira Neotia, Anne Jones, and Matt Chambers. They worked in three teams. Each team assessed a series of spirits flights and scored every element of the design.
Entries can receive Silver, Gold, or Master medals. The Master medal is reserved for packaging that shows exceptional craft. Master winners are then reviewed again to determine the Best in Class award. The process is simple and transparent. The focus is on what the judges see and handle in front of them.
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Eden Mill The Art of St Andrews 2025
Eden Mill approaches whisky making with the mindset of a brewery that became a distillery. The Art of St Andrews 2025 keeps that creative thread alive. The whisky is made with Brown Crystal malt and matured in first-fill bourbon barrels before a finishing period in Amontillado sherry casks. It is bottled at 46.5% ABV. The profile shows baked bread, almond character, and gentle spice.
The release also marks the opening of Eden Mill’s new distillery site. The bottle carries artwork by Scottish artist Deborah Phillips. Her illustration shows a sunrise over the distillery with color, movement, and textured detail. It celebrates Eden Mill’s development from a brewery into a modern producer of single malt.
The judges admired the presentation. Matt Chambers called it “gorgeous, classy and elegant. Effortless elegant and still with weight of character. Distinctive without being too complicated.” The packaging lines up well with the whisky’s origin story and the distillery’s sense of place.
15 STARS First WestÂ
The First West series marks a new chapter for 15 STARS. The Kentucky producer introduced three bourbons in this range. Small Batch blends five, six, and seven-year-old whiskey and includes some of the company’s own distillate. Toasted Oak uses the same age set but finishes in toasted barrels. Extra Aged blends eight and nine-year-old whiskey for a richer style. The series comes in at 49 to 51% ABV.
This is the first time 15 STARS has blended its own distillate into a major line. It appears alongside sourced Kentucky bourbon. The series highlights heirloom corn and a detailed approach to blending. Each expression has a different purpose, but the three together form a cohesive set.
The design, created by Stranger and Stranger, draws on early Kentucky whiskey bottles. The profile is vintage-inspired without slipping into heavy nostalgia. Diogo Lopes said, “It looks amazing, very nice details on the glass, and the label stands out.”Â
Melita Kiely added, “This is a gorgeous mix of tradition and old-worldy design, and modernity. The embossing down the sides, the shape of the bottle, the texture on the label, gold detailing. Every detail has been thought through. This is how you do design exceptionally well.”Â
Midleton Very Rare 2025 Vintage Release
Midleton Very Rare 2025 carries special weight because it marks the bicentenary of the Old Midleton Distillery. Master Distiller Kevin O’Gorman drew from four decades of stock. The blend includes rare 21 and 22-year-old grain whiskey aged in refill American oak. It also includes several pot still components with strong first-fill cask influence. The whiskey is bottled at 40% ABV.
The combination gives the release softness and sweetness from the grain and fruit, citrus, and gentle spice from the pot still element. The profile fits within the Midleton Very Rare style and also reflects the anniversary year.
The packaging earned a Master medal for its clean and understated design. The judges highlighted its “neutral colour palate on the box, elegant, beautiful, and luxurious appearance.”
Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Chapter Six
Chapter Six completes the Silent Distillery series. The whiskey was distilled in the early 1970s at the Old Midleton Distillery. That site closed in 1975. The whiskey matured for 50 years in ex-bourbon barrels. It later spent time in a custom cask built from wood that had held Chapters One through Five. It was bottled at 52.4% ABV and released in very limited quantities.
The project reflects several generations of Irish Distillers’ expertise. Max Crockett distilled the whiskey. Barry Crockett and Brian Nation guided its long maturation. Kevin O’Gorman led the final creation of the chapter. The result is a complex release with deep oak, fruit sweetness, and pot still spice.
The presentation matches the scale of the whiskey. Each bottle is a hand-blown Waterford Crystal decanter. It is housed in a cabinet designed by John Galvin that uses six different woods. Each wood represents a chapter in the series.Â
The judges praised the result. David T Smith called it “timeless, elegant design and exquisite woodwork.” The panel also said, “Flawless, thoughtful. Every element of the design has been thought through and opening it is a real experience without pretension, it’s genuine.”
