Personalized Tequila Bottles Add a Custom Party Glow-UpPersonalized Tequila Bottles Add a Custom Party Glow-Up

The holidays bring with them the rush to find presents for loved ones, colleagues, corporate clients, and more. And just in time for the gift-giving season, a company specializing in personalized spirit bottles has made its debut. InBarrel, a new division of Barrel Global, a provider of customized whiskey bottles, has launched with a focus on premium tequila and plans to expand its lineup of custom spirits. Consumers can now create one-of-a-kind custom gift labels on bottles of tequila fit for any occasion.

InBarrel’s additive-free, blanco tequila, made from six-to-eight-year-old blue agave, is sourced from the El Mexicano Distillery, located in the Los Altos de Jalisco region of Mexico.  InBarrel worked with El Mexicano for 8 months to develop its tequila brand. It is from this Mexico location that the tequila is distilled and bottled.

“Once the bottles are created, they are shipped without a front label to our warehouse stateside. There they await to receive a customized label and be sent to the client,” says InBarrel’s COO and Co-Founder, Juan Durler. 

Durler expressed that when he and George Koutsakis, InBarrel’s other co-founder, went to Mexico to find the perfect distillery to partner with, El Mexicano Distillery was the clear choice, as it met the cofounders' desire for locally sourced ingredients, premium quality, and the craftsmanship of a family-owned business. One day, InBarrel hopes to bring clients to the distillery to explore where their creations come from.

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“Everything coming from [the distillery] speaks volumes to what Mexican Tequila Heritage is,” says Durler.

InBarrel works with an American label printer that prints the sticker labels as White BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) film with matte laminate. Each sticker label is then applied to its bottle by hand.

Customization and distribution details.

Currently, the company is focusing on tequila with one bottle shape but plans to expand the shapes available as well as offer other classes of tequila, such as Reposado and Añejo, says Durler. Longer-term, a spokesperson told Packaging Digest, “the goal will be to expand to other spirits and will personalize bottles any way they want to.”

Consumers can access design templates for customization, starting with a minimum three-bottle order for $69.99. For orders of 50 bottles or more, customers gain access to InBarrel’s in-house design team for a truly customized product, where the custom label features personal photos and company logos in custom templates, as well as additional holiday templates. Handwritten gift cards are also available to heighten the unboxing experience.

InBarrel distributes direct-to-consumer to 43 states using standard ground shipping for alcohol, says Durler. The entire order process, from customization to delivery, takes about two weeks. InBarrel’s distribution partner assists in receiving bottles and labels, label application, and distribution including help with state-specific tax requirements. There is a flat shipping rate of $15 per order; or free shipping for orders of six or more bottles.