Designer Tom Lane – AKA Ginger Monkey – has helped the Georgia-based distillery Doc Brown Farm & Distillers launch into the market with label designs for four bourbon cream liqueurs. With smooth, flowing hand-rendered script, the bespoke lettering conveys the rich flavour and warm, luxurious quality of the liquid inside the bottle.
The latest flavour in the series, Salted Caramel, was released in October, adding to Butter Pecan, Peppermint Mocha and Coffee. Each flavour is colour coded, and layers and textures have been carefully applied within the label designs, contributing to the sensory experience these delicious cream liqueurs offer.
The labels have embossed script and raised spot UV elements across the design to provide tactility and physicality. An overlapping secondary label encroaches for visual interest, carrying the main Doc Brown identity.
THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE
One of the main challenges for whiskey start-ups is establishing revenue streams while the spirits mature in their casks. Ginger Monkey developed the look and feel of the Bourbon Cream Liqueur conscious that while the creams would be the first Doc Brown products to hit the market, the brand’s core focus would be on its full-strength, straight bourbons.
“It was important for the Bourbon Cream labels to project the same level of craft, visual language and bourbon integrity as Doc Brown’s hero products. The lettering and graphics reflect the bourbon tradition that is central to this brand, and will appeal to both male and female consumers, which is another key part of the Doc Brown mission,” says Tom Lane.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND IMPACT
Details and flourishes throughout the design are used to support Doc Brown’s brand narrative and values. For example, old coins are among the family heirlooms of the Brown and Dockweiler families, who set up the farm and distillery project in 2019. Small coins appear on the packaging to reflect the brand’s heritage and aesthetic, to highlight the heirloom Jimmy Red Corn grown on the farm, and to communicate the flavours and ingredients.
Since their introduction in 2022, Doc Brown’s bourbon creams have been in high demand. Soon after launch, the Butter Pecan, Peppermint Mocha and Coffee flavours sold out and the company has been working hard to replenish stocks, all the while signing new retailers wanting to stock the products.
In November 2023, Doc Brown Farm & Distillers Butter Pecan Bourbon Cream came runner up in the drink category of Garden & Gun’s Made in the South Awards, which is only adding to the demand.
Watch for more news soon about how Ginger Monkey created the Doc Brown brand identity and the Effie Jewel and Uncle Bogue bourbon labels.