The Rooster Factory, an award-winning European-American creative studio and strategic brand consultancy specializing in the drinks industry and based in Los Angeles, delved once again into the otherworldliness of Iceland. “We’re excited to continue collaborating with Arnar Agnarsson, founder and CEO of Mosi Gin, and returning to Iceland to bring Mosi Gin to life and explore the extraordinary,” says Audrey Fort, Co-Founder of The Rooster Factory.

Mosi Gin redefines the spirit category by letting Iceland itself shape the gin. Rather than relying on traditional cellars, Mosi exposes its handcrafted gins, aged in various barrels, to the extremes of the Icelandic landscape — atop Eldfell volcano and deep inside the Langjökull glacier. This process, called weathering, allows natural forces — wind, salt, temperature, and pressure — to co-create the spirit.
“Weathering is our term for what happens when gin is placed in the path of Iceland’s raw, untamed forces. It’s not a controlled, predictable process. It’s a living one. Every element — temperature, pressure, salt, stillness, motion — interacts with the spirit in ways we cannot fully anticipate. And that’s the point,” says Arnar Agnarsson, founder and CEO of Mosi Gin.

The Design Challenge

Our goal was to translate the brand’s ethos — rooted in resilience and quiet strength, inspired by Icelandic moss that thrives in the harshest conditions — into packaging that makes each bottle a vessel for Iceland’s wild forces, translating the land into a tangible, sensory experience.

The solution needed to convey:
• An exclusive, ultra-premium, tactile experience (extremely limited editions)
• The duality of extremes — volatile heat vs. frozen stillness
• Artisan, small-batch craftsmanship
• Nature as co-creator; sustainability and authenticity, embracing imperfection over mass-produced perfection
• Packaging that captures the rawness of Iceland

Design & Packaging Solution

At The Rooster Factory, we approached the packaging as an extension of Iceland itself. Every material, texture, and finish were chosen to embody the brand’s philosophy and environmental commitment:
• Bottle & Glass: Artisanal, recycled, small-batch Wildly Crafted Bobber Jr bottle from Estal Packaging. Imperfections are embraced as aesthetic and sustainable features, reflecting both the unpredictability of weathering and the ruggedness of the Icelandic landscape. Tolerating imperfection also makes economic and eco-sustainable sense, reducing waste and avoiding mass-production.
• Main labels: Hand-drawn illustrations depict elemental forces that weather the gin:
o Eldfell Volcano: It rises from the sea like a scar of fire, born in an eruption that reshaped the Westman Islands. Wild wind, shifting heat, and Atlantic spray shape the gin as it expands and contracts in the cask. Bold, expressive, and volatile — transformed by fire and air. This is not gentle aging; this is agitation, friction, and change. Forged by fire. Weathered by wind. A spirit shaped by heat, time, and salt.
o Langjökull Glacier: Far beneath Iceland’s second-largest glacier, inside a man-made ice tunnel, time slows. The temperature remains near 0°C. No sunlight, no wind — just silence. The gin matures slowly, revealing clarity, grace, and delicate refinement. This is preservation, reflection, and slow transformation, hidden from the world.
• Sub-labels: Detail each bottle’s characteristics, including the previous barrels (Islay whisky, Sauternes wine, Mezcal, Dry Vermouth, Chardonnay, Port, Triple sec).
• All labels printed on Manter Cottone Bianco paper, with embossing and debossing, and black overprinting on gold foil for tactile depth and subtle luxury by Daga Print.
• Closure: Corkcoal stopper from Estal Packaging blends cork with activated charcoal, naturally neutralizing unwanted flavors and defects while reducing water, energy, and chemical use. Functional and tactile, the stopper is a sensory extension of Iceland’s elemental inspiration.

The Result

“Mosi’s packaging doesn’t just hold gin — it embodies the landscape, elemental forces, and philosophy behind the spirit,” says Julien Fort, Creative Director at The Rooster Factory. “From Eldfell’s volcanic slopes to Langjökull’s frozen depths, every detail — from embossed illustrations to textured glass and nature-inspired closures — expresses Iceland’s power and the artistry of weathering.”