Micil X Kneecap Potín – Small but Deadly

When Micil Distillery and Kneecap came together to create a limited-edition poitín, there was plenty of character on both sides to work with.

The spirit takes Micil’s Connemara poitín and rests it in casks seasoned with Kneecap’s favourite tonic wine. Our job was to bring the collaboration to life through the label and packaging, finding a balance between Micil’s distilling heritage and Kneecap’s own visual world, while creating something that felt suitably distinctive for a limited release.

Poitín’s illicit past gave us a natural place to start. Letterpress-style typography, rough print textures and references to old Irish newspapers and posters give the design a deliberately unpolished quality, while keeping enough of Micil’s existing identity for it to still feel like one of theirs. Micil’s own story goes back to illicit distilling in Connemara in 1848, so the references felt particularly fitting.

For the limited run of 200ml naggins, Kneecap’s favourite tonic wine gave us another reference to play with. Each bottle comes wrapped in a hand-finished brown paper bag, tied and paired with a swing tag designed to resemble an old admission ticket. Small details that make the pack feel more like something passed across a counter than taken from a conventional spirits shelf, giving the limited edition its own sense of occasion and character.

The collector’s edition takes the same thinking somewhere more substantial. Working with Feekraa, we developed a wooden presentation box with an oversized X built directly into the front, making the collaboration itself part of the structure of the pack. Together with the bottle, bag and tag, it creates a packaging system designed to feel as collectable as the release itself.

Two brands with very different stories, brought together through a shared bit of Irish mischief.

Bottled small but deadly.