Creating a Brand that Lives and Breathes its Environment

Skellig Six18

Skellig Distillery exists in one of the most beautiful places on earth – on the extreme west coast of Ireland sometimes referred to as ‘the edge of the world’ for its dramatic and sometimes brutal terrain. The Skellig team saw an opportunity to build a brand whose spirit is shaped and formed by both the landscape and the singularly characterful community that lives there. They engaged Trinity to bring that vision to life.

New Product Development
Brand Strategy
Creative Strategy
Identity Design
Packaging Systems Design
Communications Strategy
Tradeshow Design
Social Media Content
Naming
Brand Voice
Promotional Packaging Design
Brand Standards & Usage Guidelines
Category, Audience & Brand Audits
Workshop Facilitation

Skellig Six18 Distillery mission statement.

The new package design won Silver at the World Gin Awards while the Skellig Six18 brand has grown since its launch Skellig Six18 Distillery has achieved pan-European distribution and in 2024 to align with its ambitions it added expansion to both the US market and the pivotal GTR market.

Skellig Six18 Distillery Irish Whiskey products with a glass of whiskey.

Skellig Six18 Distillery Small Batch Irish Whiskey bottle close-up.

We first created a brand strategy of “The Characterful Journey” as the foundation for everything the new brand would do. We then developed the name for the distillery’s spirits “Skellig Six 18” in reference (and reverence) to a distinctive feature of the distillery’s land - the 618 steps carved into a rugged crag of rock as far back as the 8th century that lead up, up, up to a remote monastery where young monks had once begun their life’s studies. For the brand, those 618 steps would represent the journey of character as its own life’s work.

The Skellig Six18 brand identity lives and breathes the shapes, colors, and mood of the landscape. Bespoke letterforms and an island silhouette speak to the place and its character. The shapes represent the 618 steps to the summit. The colors speak to the weather and flora and fauna. The visual architecture is constant across the gin and the whiskey. While on the gin, the seal speaks to the local botanicals, and on the whiskey, the seal features a constellation representing Skellig’s home in an International Dark-Sky Reserve.