DBF in the Media: Communication Arts

Doc Brown Farm & Distillers on the Communication Arts website

Here at Doc Brown we feel honored and humbled to see our brand featured in the Exhibit section of the Communication Arts website.

For decades, Communication Arts – first as a magazine and now also as a website – has been the leading authority in design and advertising in America, and they decided our branding and packaging were beautiful enough to appear on their site. A huge thank-you goes out to managing editor Michael Coyne for interviewing Tom Lane of Ginger Monkey Design, who has helped us develop the Doc Brown brand since day one. We are so, so happy with his creative work, and just as pleased that others agree!

Below you can read the full story, as it originally appeared on CommArts.com.

—-

Doc Brown Farm & Distillers identity & packaging

Ginger Monkey Design celebrates this distillery’s tradition, faith and women leadership through a comprehensive identity and packaging system.

Responses by Tom Lane, creative director, Ginger Monkey Design.

Background: Doc Brown Farm & Distillers is a startup based in Georgia making bourbon from heirloom Jimmy Red corn, which it farms, mills, ferments and distills. It’s a family business set up by Amy Brown, Paige Dockweiller and Daniel Williams in 2019. In 2020, the three approached us to help them create a visual identity and packaging system that reflects its unique way of doing things.

Design thinking: We spent a lot of time talking to Amy and researching everything important to the Doc Brown business, discussing how it would be positioned in the market. Strong family values, responsible agriculture, deep roots in Georgia, the founders’ faith, their use of a traditional variety of corn that has nearly died out—all these things set them apart.

We settled on the word heirloom as an organizing thought. The visual expressions and copy all stem from this. Doc Brown draws upon its past to create something for the future.

Challenges: We created the brand typography and imagery and started work on the packaging long before the bourbon itself would be ready. This meant there was a lot of time to consider and question every creative decision. We hoped to use bespoke bottle designs, but costs spiraled during the COVID-19 pandemic. While waiting for the signature bourbons Effie Jewel and Uncle Bogue to reach their peak, we helped Doc Brown launch four flavored bourbon cream liqueurs, giving them a revenue stream and warming consumers up for the main product lines.

Favorite details: The hand-drawn script on the labels is something I put a lot of time into, honing and crafting it a bit like how Doc Brown makes its bourbon. I wanted the lettering to be flowing, evocative and full of personality, as though these could be signatures. It’s playful, reflecting the values of the brand. I hope it sits well on the bourbon shelf but also steps away from some of the tropes ubiquitous in that market.

New lessons: We’ve been very lucky with this project. Amy, Daniel and Paige have shared a lot of information with us about how the business has progressed. We’ve learned a huge amount about how bourbon is made; what demands and challenges new distilleries face; and what retailers, distributors and regulators expect from a product and its packaging. Amy has included us in the product development process because Doc Brown takes its brand integrity seriously. Together, we’re shaping ideas for future products and how to market them.

Visual influences: Sometimes the simplest things are the most inspiring. Images Amy sent us of the sun rising over a cornfield chimed with the radiance pattern in the background on an old silver dollar that has become a Doc Brown family heirloom. This conjured images of Lady Liberty and what she represents—equality, freedom, tolerance and opportunity. She appears in the brand’s pictorial mark surrounded by farm items, in high heels. Two of Doc Brown’s founders are women, and “high heels and cornfields” is part of the company ethos—honoring and celebrating women in the bourbon industry. All these different images and ideas are connected.

gingermonkeydesign.com
alexmachin.com

Uncle Bogue and Effie Jewel whiskeys officially launched

Houston, we have lift-off! On Sunday, October 1st 2023, Doc Brown Farm and Distillers officially released our first Georgia bourbons. For the very first time, our customers were able to taste and purchase Uncle Bogue Special Reserve and Effie Jewel Straight Bourbon Whiskey at a launch party held at The Distillery of Modern Art in Chamblee, GA.

And what a party it was. Over 350 people joined us for fine bourbon, great food, infectious music, wonderful art and an all-round good time. We are farming folk here in Georgia and we were truly humbled and inspired by each and every person who joined us for this launch. Some of them were our nearest and dearest, others we met for the first time. To friends old and new: thank you, we were blown away by your love, support and kindness.

The whiskey?

Oh, it went down well! Small samples of Uncle Bogue, the double-oaked bourbon made from our farm-grown heirloom Jimmy Red Corn, were available to taste and purchase. We sold the entire party stock. The same goes for Effie Jewel, aged two years and nine months in Georgia oak barrels, and also made from our Jimmy Red.

Speaking of which, while the party was taking place, the corn was ripening in the field. The very next day we were out on the farm, harvesting the next crop. A farmer’s work is never done, but how could we complain? We hit the fields on Monday morning energized by the launch and thinking big about the new whiskeys we plan to distil.

Availability

Even though they have only just launched, both Uncle Bogue and Effie Jewel are already in high demand. At 125 Proof (62.5% ABV), Uncle Bogue comes from the barrel uncut and unfiltered. The party stock sold out, but we will have allocated bottles with Georgia retail stores soon so keep an eye on social media. In addition, we will have a new Uncle Bogue special cask bourbon out in 2024 and will let you know when.

Effie Jewel (46% ABV) will be available in our online shop and in Georgia retail stores at $79.99 while stocks last.

Now, let’s take a look at that party…

And a big thank you, again, to everyone who came out in support.

Introducing… Uncle Bogue

Uncle Bogue four-year-old Georgia bourbon by Doc Brown Farm & DistillersY’all better get ready because our first fine Georgia bourbon is about to hit the market – and it’s a special one. Uncle Bogue is its name and, this is a limited edition, double-oaked, four-year-old bourbon that is going to turn heads – here in Georgia, and maybe even around the world. We’re launching it at a special event to be held on Sunday, October 1st, 2023, at the Distillery of Modern Art in Chamblee, GA.

Now let me tell you, we are very proud of this bourbon. Made with corn grown on Doc Brown Farm, we matured it in a char 3 cask and then finished it in a char 4 cask for a deep auburn color and a luxurious, rich, full-bodied flavor. Our original spirit, the oak, the char and the wood sugars come together for a palate whiskey lovers everywhere will truly appreciate.

We tasted it the other day down at the rickhouse and have decided that now, after four years aging, our barrel of Uncle Bogue is ready to bottle. There is only one cask, so we estimate 234 or 235 bottles will be filled, sealed and numbered with our exclusive Uncle Bogue artwork on the label.

It’s 125 proof (62.5% ABV), unfiltered and uncut, and the price is still to be confirmed.

Who was Uncle Bogue?

Like all the bourbons we’re bringing out, Uncle Bogue was made here in Georgia, and we named it in honor of our great, great uncle Bogue. A century ago, Bogue farmed the fields in this great state but also built a reputation for making fine whiskey to share with friends and family. This was done on the quiet, of course, as Prohibition was in full swing.

Both as a farmer and a distiller, Bogue was a perfectionist. He had deep set eyes, wore his hat low, didn’t talk much but when he did it was worth listening. Bogue was a patient man, who shaped the flavor of his fine spirits in some unexpected ways. A bottle from Bogue was something to treasure – he only gave them to those who’d won his respect.

That tradition of selectivity has gone into our first rare bourbon. When it’s gone, it’s gone, but Uncle Bogue will return in future as the figurehead of our limited-edition spirits – the ones we mature extra-long in special casks like old Bogue did back in the day.

Effie Jewel – coming soon

Uncle Bogue will be released alongside Effie Jewel, our first Jimmy Red Corn bourbon, which is pretty special in itself. Also made entirely here in Georgia, we’ll tell you more about Effie Jewel here on the website in a couple of weeks.

Uncle Bogue Special Reserve will be available to purchase in our online shop from October 1st 2023. Have a look at the images below.

Bottle of Uncle Bogue four-year-old Georgia bourbon by Doc Brown Farm & Distillers

Cap detail of Uncle Bogue four-year-old Georgia bourbon by Doc Brown Farm & Distillers

Label detail of Uncle Bogue four-year-old Georgia bourbon by Doc Brown Farm & Distillers