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Craft spirits brands and distilleries are often at the forefront of modern consumer trends when it comes to branding and packaging.
As off-premise sales continue to grow exponentially after two banner years at home, brands are continuing to find competitive advantages by focusing on the convenience of single-serve formats, especially as consumers start to venture out this summer. Quick-moving modern spirits brands are increasing market share by providing consumers portable packaging for family gatherings, pool and beach parties, conferences / work events, and outdoor music festivals.
Plus, the opportunity to provide trial size, to-go formats of their premium distilled spirits gives brands the opportunity to get in front of more consumers on a mass scale, with a much lower barrier to entry and price point compared to winning a first purchase for a full bottle.
Corsair Distillery (Nashville, Tennessee) was one of the first distilleries to add the 100mL can to their product offering. Their flagship products — Triple Smoke American Single Malt Whiskey, Dark Rye American Rye Malt Whiskey, American Gin and Barreled Gin — were released nationwide in “mini cans” in May 2022.
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Above: Corsair Distillery is well known in the craft spirits industry as an innovative, fearless experimenter across all spirit categories. Winning 430+ major awards over their relatively short life (founded in 2008), their spirits are cutting edge and modern. This new size/vessel offering is in line with that experimental DNA and not to mention really cute. Image via Bevnet, “Corsair Distillery Announces Nationwide Release of the Mini Can.”
Already wildly popular with high-proof RTD cocktails, but new to the distilled spirits category, each adorably compact mini can contains two shots of Corsair’s craft spirits, enabling consumers to try each product on a small scale before purchasing a full bottle.
Notably, the 750mL bottle size of Corsair’s award-winning Triple Smoke Whiskey retails for $49.99 on the Corsair website, while the 100mL can size retails for $4.99.
According to the distillery, the new 100mL can size offering is very much in line with the brand’s experimental and innovative DNA. Corsair is one of the first brands to offer their flagship spirits in this packaging format. In “Corsair Distillery Introduces 100mL Mini Can Format For Their Core Lineup,” Lost Cargo notes that the 100ml size as well as the can format are both unique in the American whiskey category.
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Above: The 750mL bottle size of Corsair’s award-winning Triple Smoke Whiskey retails for $49.99 on the Corsair website. The 100mL can size retails for $4.99. Corsair is on the leading edge of a fast-growing industry trend toward incentivizing consumer trial of premium spirits by offering the 100mL can size.
“Spirits consumers have more options than ever, but knowing what you may or may not like is difficult without tasting it first,” notes Lorna Conrad, Corsair’s master distiller. “Our products are quite unique and that can cause some trepidation in buying a full bottle. We know once people try us out, they love the product, so the mini cans enable that trial. There is the added benefit of having the perfect two-shot pour in a sealed container, when you don’t need a whole bottle — like when you’re golfing or wanting a gin and tonic on the beach.”
Very Good Mfg has a state-of-the-art canning line specifically dedicated to copacking distilled spirits in 100mL cans. We can help with the transition to the 100mL can format; all we need is a full-size sample of your current product. Get more information and get in touch here.
Given early consumer reception, other distilled spirits brands won’t be far behind.