What had started as a red product in a shrink-sleeved clear glass bottle switched into a clear product in a decorated red-frosted glass bottle after the product changed from reddish to a clear formulation. Aroff had wanted consumers to see red when viewing bottled Ecstasy.
Ecstasy is available in select states such as IL, FL, CA, and NY in 1-L, 750-mL, and 375-mL sizes, with the introduction of a 50-mL glass mini bottle imminent. The product’s suggested pricing is $33.80, $31.99, and $16.99; pricing for the 50-mL size was not set at press time.
“Ecstasy is the first new spirit that’s in a class by itself,” says Aroff, “as is the unique package. We want the package to ‘touch’ consumers in a meaningful way.”
Aroff relied on Liquor Bottle Packaging Intl. (212/922-2813) as his “packaging facilitator” responsible for bottle logistics, sourcing, and printing. The bottles are produced in Italy from an unused stock mold that is essentially custom, according to Aroff, who had wanted to source the bottles domestically.
However, he didn’t find what he wanted in the samples he looked at in the U.S. Finish, seams, and weight were never quite right. “Because of the price point of our product, we wanted to make sure the perceived value of the product presentation was relevant to the price,” says Aroff. “We wanted to create a high-quality package without reinventing the wheel and spending a tremendous amount of money.” Aroff had also wanted to print on the bottle shoulder. “The entire package was a series of compromises, but ultimately we were satisfied with the results,” he adds.
The imported clear flint glass cylindrical bottle is decorated by Serigraphie Richford Inc. (www.serigraphierichford.com). It applies two layers of red spray to get a deeper than usual red tint, and then screen-prints the bottles in three colors done in four passes. Bottles are sealed with a synthetic cork and metal cap also from Italy. Bottling is done by Distilled Resources (www.waytogoidaho.com) using existing equipment. The company hopes that users will keep the bottle as a reusable decanter.
“Response to the product has been excellent,” Aroff reports.
