The Spirit of My Grandad

When I was growing up, my grandad collected miniature alcohol bottles.

Hundreds of them.

Whenever I visited his house I would sit and stare at them. Row after row of tiny bottles with different shapes, colours and labels. I was fascinated by them. The details, the typography, the tiny brand worlds captured in glass.

At the time I probably did not realise what I was looking at. I just knew I loved them.

When my grandad passed away, the collection came to me.

It felt like a responsibility as much as a gift. Something he had spent a lifetime building and caring for. I decided I would keep adding to it, continuing the collection in my own way.

Many years later it is still growing.

But something unexpected has happened along the way.

Some of the bottles I am adding now are not just ones I have found while travelling or visiting shops and distilleries. They are bottles we have designed ourselves at Boundless.

Every time I place one of those into the cabinet it feels like a quiet full circle moment. The fascination that started with those miniature bottles is the same curiosity that drives the work we do today.

Spirits brands have always been special. They are not just products. They carry stories, heritage, craft and culture in a very tangible way.

Maybe that is why I was so drawn to those tiny bottles as a kid.

And maybe that curiosity never really left.

The collection continues to grow. And in a small way, so does the legacy my grandad started.