DEDICATION
I finally managed it mom.
My best friend who always believed,
never doubted & now missed so much.
“Fruit can’t talk can it mom”
DT 1949-2015
The story so far…
After countless uninspiring sales presentations about the latest spirits products, curiosity drove us to question what it was that made a successful drinks brand and if we could write the elusive formula, creating a spirit’s brand that would make people go ‘WOW’. How do you make the jump from the definition below to a product, a drink a consumer wants in their life?
In 2010 the lightning bolt finally hit – create a brand that is defined by its bottle and not just by its liquid. Not a novelty bottle, rather one that was identified by the image that it provoked. To create a vessel to carry liquid with no compromise. A vessel that will challenge on every level of design, style and function.
Why should a bottle just look like a bottle?
DEFINITION OF “BOTTLE” /ˈbɒt(ə)l/ noun
A glass or plastic container with a narrow neck, used for storing drinks or other liquids. (“he opened the bottle of beer”) BRITISH informal. the courage or confidence needed to do something difficult or dangerous. (“I lost my bottle completely and ran”) synonyms: courage, courageousness, bravery, valour, intrepidity, boldness, nerve, confidence, daring, audacity, pluck, pluckiness, spirit, mettle, spine, backbone, steel, fibre, stout-heartedness.
“Why should a bottle just look like a bottle?”
Early 3D Model
The challenge
For those that have never designed a bottle before, where do you start? We started at the very beginning – we had to. The looks we received were priceless when first starting the trail across Europe to find a glass manufacturer – the reception to our grand idea was pretty lukewarm...
...after hundreds of emails and dozens of failed meetings with sales people and “industry experts” all telling us that “it’s not possible”, “it would cost too much to produce”, “it will never work”, we finally stumbled into one glass factory who would consider the project.
Advanced
3D Model
First Physical Model
Pre-production
Thrilled that we were off the ground, it was just the small task of designing, manufacturing and making it viable for mass production. Enter the designers and huge amounts of argument. Things started to change, the mantra of “no compromise” began to drive a dedication to create something that was the best it could possibly be. Not about costs and sales projections, more an obsession to prove that this could and will be done.
Design in its purest form is not design but art and after more false starts and a lot of despair we finally had the perfect design.
Manufacturing
Once we had the perfect design, we had to turn that into the perfect bottle. Our manufacturer had the faith and the vision to push the boundaries of mass production glass fabrication and turn our designs into something real. Something like nothing else.
The Results
We believe this speaks for itself – we have created a bottle that is truly at the edge of what is physically and aesthetically possible with mass produced glass technology.
When we started this project the term “bottle” to us meant the first definition in the oxford dictionary, now the same word means a lot more and far closer to what the dictionary terms the “British informal”
Our product is expensive, provocative and decadent.
The liquids!
Despite what the drinks industry experts have been telling you for the last 40 years, the liquid is actually the relatively easy part. Propaganda about X years aged this and filtered through crystals that, is often just spiel.
Without question any process will impart its own characteristics on any liquid, this is simple chemistry. Some characteristics will be good and some not so good but do these processes justify a drinks brand and the price they charge?
Ask yourself, why is the industry standard 40% ABV for a premium vodka? Many will tell you it is because it’s the optimal taste profile when mixed or consumed straight.
Nonsense! 40% is the minimum ABV many use to give a perceived quality to their products whist reducing the duty costs they must pay to hit a price point that allows a wider market share. This is often a compromise that directly effects the quality of the finished product. At Fallen Angel we don’t compromise.
Don’t get us wrong there are a few fellow brands out there brave enough to go against this and choose an ABV point to suit their product and to all of these brands we salute you.
Knowing the qualities and the taste you are after is the true art form when creating a spirit. Pursuing those characteristics without compromise is the true value. Our liquids are all of the very highest quality and are scientifically developed to be the best fit to the characteristics of our brand. We have chosen 44.7% ABV specifically, as in tests it was at this point that we combined both optimal taste and ignition.
Why choose a product that simply blends in, that doesn’t stand out from the rest and says nothing about who you are. Have something unique, something that is created to be the best it can be.
The Future?