Apothecary bottles bring authentic look to rum-based drink

BEATSON Clark has revealed a new Caribbean rum tonic drink called Wha Gwan has seen ‘excellent’ sales since launching this summer in 200ml amber Winchester apothecary bottles. 

The glass specialist said the melon cherry rum tonic drink has been selling well in wholesalers, cash and carries and small retail outlets. 

David Mills, founder of Wha Gwan who licenses the brand to distributor BevStar, said, “Sales are good – we are one of the fastest growing new start-ups in the country at the moment. For the packaging we wanted to work directly with a manufacturer, and Beatson Clark are one of the main players in the marketplace. They’re a great company to work with and they’re very reliable and efficient in terms of timescales. 

“We chose a pharmaceutical bottle to identify the drink as part of the category. Medicine-style bottles are proving very popular in the marketplace right now and rather than stand apart from them we wanted our new product to fit in with the rest of the sector. We believe we will soon start to see competitors launching similar products so we plan to customise our bottle within six months through embossing, once our brand is fully established in the market.”

Jonathan Clark, account manager at Beatson Clark, added, “The popularity of our vintage, retro-style apothecary bottles shows no sign of abating. Originally designed for pharmaceutical use, they lend brands an authentic apothecary look which is currently very popular in the craft spirits market. In addition the amber glass protects drink products from harmful UV rays, offering them a longer shelf life. Many bottles in this range are available from stock and the addition of embossing produces unique bottles for less than half the cost of a completely bespoke design.”