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Packaging News production editor David Elliott looks at quality drinks brands that are investing in special-edition packaging to give their brand the edge, and marvels at the effort and innovation on display

It's been a good few days for fans of packaging design that breaks the mould, with news of packaging innovation, especially towards the higher end of the spirits market, creating more than a bit of a buzz on packagingnews.co.uk.

Notable examples of such eye-catching recent developments are the imposing bottle for Ballantine's Finest range of Scotch whisky, spray coated with a brooding, moody blue skin and featuring a nightclub-friendly 'graphic equaliser' at its beating heart that reacts to the sounds around it.

A spokeswoman for the company said the bottle was "truly mesmerising in a bar environment". I don't know about that – although I'm sure it becomes somewhat hypnotic after slurping one drop of the contents too many – but it looks pretty impressive nonetheless.

Another spirits brand pushing the boundaries with its bottles is Absolut. The classy Swedish vodka producer has got its packaging down to a T – the simplicity of the standard bottle with its Futura-based typeface printed directly on to the clear, clean lines of the glass gives the impression of both purity and quality, while at the same time providing a perfect canvas to dress up for special occasions.

And on those special occasions the brand goes to town. Its latest limited offering, the Williams Murray Hamm-designed bottle for its Flavor of the Tropics line manages to look simultaneously cooler than the brand's sub-zero 'IceBar' in London's Mayfair and as hot as the tropical destinations depicted on the label.

The Flavor of the Tropics bottle is the latest in a string of limited-edition vessels from the brand – previous efforts have included a rocked-out offering clad in metal-studded leather that would look perfectly at home nodding along to a rowdy, guitar-fuelled Guns N' Roses classic with a smouldering cigarette hanging from its mouth and a funky mirrored disco-ball bottle that successfully conjures images of a fresh-faced John Travolta pulling shapes to the high-pitched strains of a trio of hirsute brothers.

And in another recent move, Absolut took the special edition a step further with the launch of Naked Absolut, a bottle with no label and no logo, to "challenge labels and prejudice about sexual identities".

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Aside from the obligatory blurb about alcohol content and a "discreet and easily removed label" about the campaign manifesto, the bottle is left completely plain; a brave move that becomes special simply by being so different – perhaps slightly at odds with the message it's trying to promote but a triumph in terms of the power Absolut's well-designed packaging affords its brand.

It's a clear example of how special-edition packaging can create a buzz and excitement around a brand and I hope Absolut, and others creating fun, interesting packs, continue to do so with aplomb.