Luxury Packaging Specialist Earns International Recognition Hunter Luxury has secured double Gold at the 2026 MUSE Design Awards for the Jack Daniel's x McLaren Halo MK1 Limited Edition bottle, recognising the technical design and manufacturing complexity required to bring the collaboration to market. The packaging specialist won in two categories: Packaging Design – Brand Partnership/Collaborations and Packaging Design – Limited Edition. The awards recognise both the translation of two globally recognised brands into a single physical product and the technical achievement of manufacturing the bottle consistently at scale.
Complexity Hidden Behind Simplicity The original concept was created by Jack Daniel's Design team at Brown-Forman as part of the brand's partnership with McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team, drawing inspiration from Formula 1's Halo safety device. Hunter Luxury led the development, engineering, prototyping, and manufacturing to turn the concept into a fully engineered, manufacturable product. Bringing the design to life required more than 50 custom components spanning eight materials and eight manufacturing processes. The result is finished in electrophoresis matte black with McLaren Papaya accents, with details honouring both brands' histories—the number 58 references Bruce McLaren's racing number, while the number 7 references Jack Daniel's Old No. 7. Paul Hamilton, Head of Sales & Marketing at Hunter Luxury, said: "The challenge with Halo wasn't simply to make the mechanism work. It was to translate an extraordinary creative idea into something that could be manufactured consistently at scale, while preserving the simplicity and elegance of the original concept. More than 50 components have to work together precisely, yet the person interacting with Halo should never see that complexity. They press the button and the experience simply unfolds." He added: "That takes an enormous amount of collaboration, engineering and attention to detail, so to receive two MUSE Gold awards, recognising both the limited-edition design and the brand collaboration behind it, is particularly special. We're grateful to Brown-Forman and McLaren for trusting us to help turn such an ambitious idea into reality."
Growing Awards Track Record The double Gold adds to Halo MK1's international awards record.
The bottle has previously won Gold at the London Design Awards, Gold and Silver at the Tokyo Design Awards, and an AmeriStar Design Excellence Award, plus Bronze at the International Spirits Challenge. It has been shortlisted at the 2026 Pentawards and named a finalist in both the London Packaging Week Innovation Awards and UK Packaging Awards. The MUSE Design Awards programme recognises excellence across architecture, interior, product, lighting, packaging, and conceptual design, with an international jury of senior creative and design professionals.
Why It Matters
For spirits operators and brand teams, the Halo MK1 demonstrates how luxury packaging can function as a brand extension rather than a container—a lesson relevant as premiumisation and experiential packaging gain traction in the category. The technical complexity hidden behind intuitive interaction points to shifting consumer expectations around limited editions.
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Written by FBM Publications Editors
