New closure gives vodka a top-shelf appearance

With the premium-vodka section of liquor store shelves becoming increasingly crowded, brands must harness the power of distinctive packaging design to stand out. When Brown-Forman looked to launch its new high-end Finlandia Platinum Vodka to global markets, it charged Saxco Intl. LLC with creating a unique, striking closure to top off the stylish bottle.

"Brown-Forman challenged us to come up with a sleek and clean closure which would provide the final distinctive ingredient to a beautifully balanced package design," says Larry Coomes, Saxco's director of Midwest sales. 

Coomes teamed with Brown-Forman's director of packaging Mike Taylor, and packaging engineer Eliot Boyd, to create a matte-silver aluminum shell, embossed with Finlandia's reindeer logo on top (this part of the process was completed by Anomatic Corp.). The aluminum shells were then shipped to J.C. Ribeiro S.A., a cork stoppers firm in Portugal. The firm fabricated a custom plastic fitment and natural cork assembly that fit directly into the shells. A blue, tamper-evident PVC sleeve was fitted over the closure by Brown-Forman to finish it off.

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