When a brand develops a new variant, marketers refer to it as a line extension – the purpose of which is to build volume by offering an existing consumer the opportunity to derive additional enjoyment from a favourite brand, or by introducing elements into the brand which may attract new consumers. The danger, especially with consumable products, is that these initiatives can cannibalise the original product, and dilute the focus of the brand.

This of course should be guarded against, most importantly in the conceptualisation of the extension – does it play a valid role and hold true meaning for the consumer? – but also in its presentation to market.   How can its connection to the core brand be retained, how can it demonstrate its fit and value-add, and how can it be promoted in and of itself at the same time?  In the search for optimal response to these challenges there is a packaging format with a small but significant role to play: the taster pack.

A taster pack is packaging that draws multiple variants together in a single purchase.  It enables an integrated experience of the new, the diverse, and the tried and trusted – a broad appeal that meets a variety of needs.

You may want to try something new, but without stepping into the unknown. You may like the reliability of a trusted brand, but also want a little something more.  Or you may want the comfort of a favourite brand, but without being limited to a single dimension of enjoyment.  There are many arenas in which these packs are employed by many brands – an interesting “case study” being the Scotch whisky industry.

One of the great joys of Scotch whisky is its variety, an attribute on which it outperforms all the other major spirits.  If you sift through the online ramblings of anoraks, those self-proclaimed whisky experts who specialise in the generation of convoluted tasting notes, you’ll find (dubious as these sources may be) that whisky can taste like anything from coarse leather beaten with a hessian flail, and loamy soil drying in the sunshine after an early spring thundershower, to a buttered scone with jam made from Anatolian figs and clotted cream made from Ayrshire milk…or a combination of these, or something in between.  Everything really.  Whilst these guys may have wedged their imaginative heads slightly too far up their own arses, they do have a point:  the potential for different flavours and for our own individual interpretations thereof is almost limitless.  This is the wonderful privilege of drinking whisky – the journey is long and interesting.

In recognition of these possibilities, Glenmorangie, the legendary Scotch malt distillery, has for some years been producing a 4x10cl pack (and more recently the similar 3x35cl), a taster pack – featuring four whiskies ensconced in a rigid box with a display aperture, supplied by luxury packaging experts IPL.  The  offering includes Original, and the three whiskies making up the “extra matured” range: Lasanta, Quinta Ruban and Nectar d’Or.  It affords whisky lovers the ideal opportunity to facilitate and further their malt whisky exploration, and their appreciation of the Glenmorangie brand.   Four distinct whiskies side-by-side, some essential experiential insight into how maturation affects the flavour of a whisky, and a hell of lot of enjoyment.   All in one convenient pack.