Nesting bottles hold the spirits of Jekyll & Hyde

-- Packaging Digest, 8/1/2007

Playing off the duality of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous fictional characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Anheuser-Busch's spirits' subsidiary, Long Tail Libations, St. Louis, is serving up what it calls a "beautifully wicked, layered libation," packaged in two separate, interlocking glass bottles developed by O-I). Jekyll & Hyde, introduced in limited test markets in 2005 and now offered in 14 U.S. states, comprises two spirits. Jekyll is a 60-proof, scarlet-red liqueur with a wild berry flavor, while contrary Hyde is an 80-proof, midnight-black liquid with a spicy, licorice flavor. The drinks are meant to be served together, with the Hyde Herbal Liqueur floating on top of the Berry spirit when the two are combined as a shot.

According to Mike Lonsway, O-I manger of new product development, North America Glass, when Long Tail Libations approached O-I two years ago to develop the packaging, it was looking for "two creative product concepts and to optimize the design for shelf impact and function while maintaining supply-chain efficiencies."

Within three weeks, O-I had developed a package concept in North America and produced the two bottles at its plant in Holzminden, Germany. The package design selected by Long Tail Libations uses two curvy, nesting, 750-mL bottles that place Jekyll on the left-hand side and Hyde on the right and form a rectangular body when joined.

Richly colored bottle label graphics (designer unnamed) support the brand's "split personality," joining together to form a portrait of the famed Dr. Jekyll, with the Jekyll bottle depicting his calmer, more refined persona and the left-hand label displaying an unkempt, wild-eyed and mysterious Hyde.