The new range – stollen rum, vodka berry, and marmalade gin – have been launched as a festive treat to bolster consumers’ Christmas spirits.

Briefed by M&S to produce a bottle that could outshine the retailer's best-selling ‘snow globe’ light-up gin bottles of the past three years, Wilkins came up with a brand-new wrapping technique for the bottles, which features a swing ticket and distinctive LED inset in the base of the bottle.

The 360-degree wrap-around label uses a transparent substrate and bespoke adhesive to attach the label, instead of traditional shrink-film processes.

Justin Wilkins, sales and marketing director of the £47m group, said: “We think we could be the first packaging firm to create a 360-degree wrap-around label like this on a glass bottle. It is a packaging concept that is very challenging on glass when you move away from the traditional shrink-film process that most packaging companies use.  

“While this was an exceedingly difficult and challenging project to deliver, we believe that this new design, together with the tempting new gin, vodka and rum flavours, will once again make this now iconic addition to the Christmas shopping list another viral sensation.”  

The finished design nods to the traditional Christmas motif of the pinecone, appearing in silver, copper and gold. The spirits themselves offset the bottles’ colours, with the inset LED projecting warm colours through the liqueur.

Wilkins added: “M&S came to us with a generic brief for the Christmas 2023 line. They wanted to move the project on from the snow globes, so we were determined to create something even more ground-breaking.  

“We took our cues from them and focused on some of the seasonal images they provided. With this in mind, our team, alongside our design partners EBI, created a winning design for them.”

Details of the print production process were not disclosed.