Say goodbye to tubes, and hello to naked bottles. Starting now, J&A Mitchell & Co Ltd have announced that Springbank’s core range of single malts – Springbank 10, 12 and 15, Longrow Peated and Hazelburn 10 Year Old – along with the Kilkerran single malts from Springbank’s sister distillery Glengyle, will be shipped and displayed without any external packaging like cardboard boxes or tubes.
This move is intended to minimise the effect we have on the environment and the global climate emergency.
“Springbank 10, Kilkerran 12 and our other core whiskies will now appear ‘naked’, which we believe makes us amongst the first, if not the very first, distilleries to present our products in that way,” said the company’s Director of Sales and Marketing Ranald Watson, adding that packaging for their rare and exclusive whiskies will be sourced as locally as possible and is either from sustainable, reused, recycled or reusable materials.
Beyond packaging materials, the company will also be looking at reducing their environmental impact on the production level. Said its Director of Production Findlay Ross: “We are looking at tackling areas that will have no direct impact on the spirit itself, the most prominent of these being our impending switch from using red diesel as our primary fuel source to the more efficient and less polluting [liquefied petroleum gas].”
“We have also recently undertaken a water mapping study, and are in the process of looking at where we can reduce our water consumption for areas that aren’t directly involved in our final product.”
So while their appearance on the shelves will change, Springbank’s single malts will still remain the good ol’ Springbank that we know and love – with an environmentally conscious heart beneath it all.
