Consecutive Wins Showcase Range and Precision Hunter Luxury has secured back-to-back victories at the UK Packaging Awards, with the Jack Daniel's x McLaren Halo MK1 Limited Edition named Limited Edition Packaging of the Year 2026. The win follows the company's 2025 victory in the same category with the Hendrick's Whimsical Watering Can.
Engineering Complexity Behind Collector-Grade Design The Halo MK1 uses precision engineering and mechanical interaction to create a collector experience inspired by Formula 1's safety systems. At its centre is a concealed push-button mechanism beneath the McLaren emblem that, when pressed, releases the bottle from its sculpted cradle in one smooth movement. The finished structure combines more than 50 custom components across eight materials and eight manufacturing processes. The engineering effort included more than 20 CAD iterations, digital motion studies, and physical prototyping to refine geometry, balance, and release behaviour. Even the acoustic response of the mechanism was engineered for a softer, more premium character. The case combines extruded and die-cast aluminium, injection-moulded components, carbon fibre-effect detailing, and Alcantara-inspired lining, with an electrophoretic coating creating a uniform matte exterior.
Design Partnership Between Brands The original Halo MK1 concept was created by the Jack Daniel's Design team at Brown-Forman as part of the brand's partnership with McLaren. Hunter Luxury led development, engineering, prototyping, and manufacture to bring the vision to life. Sam Gardner, Senior Art Director at Brown-Forman Global Design, said: "There was a point when it stopped feeling like a case or a gift pack and started to feel like a piece of sculpture. That was when I realised people weren't going to hide this away in a cupboard. They were going to treat it like a centrepiece. "So many brand collaborations can end up feeling like two logos have simply been placed on an existing format. We wanted to genuinely share the DNA of Jack Daniel's and McLaren to create something neither brand could have made on its own." Paul Hamilton, Head of Sales & Marketing at Hunter Luxury, said: "To win Limited Edition Packaging of the Year for a second consecutive year is incredibly special, particularly because the two winning projects could hardly be more different. "The Hendrick's Whimsical Watering Can was playful, surprising and deliberately unconventional. Halo MK1 is an exercise in precision engineering, bringing together more than 50 components within a finished structure designed to deliver one seemingly effortless moment. "What connects them is the ambition behind them. Both began with ambitious creative ideas, and with Halo MK1, that original design concept came from the Jack Daniel's Design team. Our role was to find a way to make that vision work in the real world without compromising what made it special."
Additional Recognition The Halo MK1 has also won the Luxury Drinks category at the 2026 London Packaging Week Innovation Awards.
Why It Matters
The award reflects growing premium beverage demand for experiential packaging that extends beyond the bottle itself—particularly in luxury spirits where unboxing and display rituals drive collector value and brand differentiation.
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Written by FBM Publications Editors
