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Watermark Design. (2025). Penelope Estate Collection. GDUSA Gallery. https://gallery.gdusa.com/project/penelope-estate-collection
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American Package Design Awards 2025
The Penelope Estate Collection redefines luxury bourbon with bespoke design elements and unique identifiers for each rare bottle.
Penelope Bourbon’s Estate Collection features hand-selected, rare, and unique barrels, each possessing its own distinct character. To clearly distinguish this collection as a step above the rest, several design and packaging elements were added. First, each bottle in the Estate Collection has a unique identifier. Watermark developed a specific logo for this series that transforms the peony, commonly found on standard Penelope Bourbon bottles, into a crest suitable for this collection of rare spirits. We envisioned this collection as a luxurious jewel box of liquid, choosing deep, rich jewel tones to signify rarity and to set it apart from Penelope's bright, lighter standard packaging. A capsule was also added to indicate that these bottles are special and deserving of this distinctive presentation. Additionally, a band of gold along the bottom ties the package together with other elements throughout the collection. The Estate Collection began with the Founder’s Reserve, a limited release of 24 barrels. This was distinguished by a metal "P" emblem, elevating the Penelope logo to a new level, set within a debossed custom glass. The bikini label was also inset, ending with a unique identifying number on the back, which etches the batch number into another inset metal piece. Furthermore, a box was crafted for each of the five lots of Founder’s Reserve to enhance the overall presentation. The current collection is completed by Single Barrel and Private Select offerings in deep navy and charcoal. This set is truly worthy of these exquisite and unearthed spirits.
From the original award submission.

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