The Year of the Horse is considered an auspicious one in the Chinese zodiac. A galloping horse signals progress and success, a symbol that lands especially well in business across Asia. It is also the season when wine and spirits shift from being “nice to have” to social currency: prestigious, presentable, and easy to share. Unsurprisingly, brands are embracing Chinese New Year with horse-led designs that turn familiar bottles into limited-edition gifts. In some cases (two listed here), amplify the moment with pop-ups and festive promotions.

Choosing the right bottle can still be tricky if you don’t know the recipient’s preferences. A simple way in is to work backwards: do they drink at all, do they prefer wine or spirits, and if wine, white or red; if spirits, lighter and bright or aged and contemplative. This list leans heavily towards spirits (with one wine), but every pick has one thing in common: their packaging created specifically for the Chinese New Year, designed to decorate the gifting table.

Glen Grant

The Glen Grant marks the Year of the Horse with a refined trio of limited-edition gift boxes featuring the distillery’s 12-Year-Old, 15-Year-Old and 18-Year-Old single malts. The horse artwork appears on the outer gift packaging, not the bottle itself, rendered in elegant line illustrations that differ in colour to reflect each expression. Each gift box also includes two crystal glasses, a subtle nod to the festive belief that good fortune comes in pairs.

Designed for both gifting and shared occasions, the collection comes with official food pairing recommendations tailored to Chinese New Year snacks: the 12YO with pineapple tarts, the 15YO with kueh bangkit, and the 18YO with bak kwa, pairings explored by Master Distiller Greig Stables during regional tastings. The Glen Grant is also featured through festive cocktail menus and promotions at selected Singapore bars including Skai Bar, Night Hawk and The Other Room during the Chinese New Year period. The collection is available from mid-January 2026 at Cold Storage, Cellarbration, Bottles & Bottles and selected retailers.

[Photo source: Johnnie Walker]

Johnnie Walker

Johnnie Walker’s Year of the Horse release sees Blue Label dressed in a striking limited-edition design created in collaboration with Hong Kong-born, London-based haute couturier Robert Wun. The horse artwork appears across both the bottle label and the presentation box, reimagined through Wun’s signature “surrealist and avant-garde” aesthetic, drawing on movement, strength and forward momentum.

This design is exclusive to Johnnie Walker Blue Label with the liquid remaining a blend of some of the rarest whiskies in the brand’s reserves. The brand’s Chinese New Year activation is supported by digital content exploring Wun’s creative process. The brand also highlights a suggested serve: neat or with a sip of iced water to open up Blue Label’s layers of honey, spice, vanilla, dark chocolate and smoke. For those seeking a step up, Johnnie Walker XR21 arrives in a Chinese New Year edition with a horse motif on the bottle and a red-and-gold box finished with Wun’s design.

[Photo source: The GlenAllachie]

GlenAllachie

The GlenAllachie continues its Chinese New Year series with a dedicated 13-year-old limited edition single malt created to mark the Year of the Fire Horse. The whisky is matured in a combination of Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks, alongside high-char Appalachian virgin oak, a deliberate choice by Master Distiller Billy Walker to echo the fire element of the zodiac through warmth, spice and intensity.

The horse artwork features a fiery red colour palette and hand-drawn illustrations by Scottish artist Kayley Barbour, with the horse’s flowing mane and tail rendered to resemble multi-tonal flames. The design on the box is lacquered and foiled to add depth, while a horseshoe charm symbolising good fortune adorns each gift pack. A matching gift bag completes the set. This horse artwork is exclusive to the 13-year-old Fire Horse edition, the second release in GlenAllachie’s Chinese New Year series. Made for Asia market only.

[Photo source: Hennessy]

Hennessy

In its debut Chinese New Year collaboration, Hennessy partner with Bee Cheng Hiang for cognac pairing with bakkwa, the sweet meat synonymous with Chinese reunion celebration. The Reunion Kit, which includes a standard Hennessy, Bee Ching Hiang snacks, two tulip glasses and festive decorations are designed for house visits. Hennessy V.S.O.P, Hennessy X.O and Hennessy Paradis bottles are adorned with horse on the packaging.  and encased in a gold box with traditional sharing snacks by the bakkwa brand, which normally attracts long queues prior to the festival. Stand a chance to win the Reunion Kit by purchasing Hennessy. Visit their three pop-ups across Singapore between 5 January to 28 February 2026.

[Photo source: Martell]

Martell

Martell’s Year of the Horse releases feature limited-edition designs for Martell Cordon Bleu and Martell VSOP, with expressive horse calligraphy appearing on both the bottle and gift box packaging. The artwork is created in collaboration with renowned Chinese artist He Datian, whose fluid brushstrokes capture the vitality and motion of the horse. The Chinese New Year celebration extends into The House of Martell, an immersive pop-up running from 5–12 February 2026 at ION Orchard B4 Indoor Atrium with a large-scale sculptural horse installation, Martell-infused mandarin sorbet, customised calligraphy couplets, cocktails and exclusive gifts-with-purchase.

[Photo source: Penfolds]

Penfolds

Penfolds’ Year of the Horse series spans Grange, Bin 707, Bin 389, St Henri and FWT 585, with celebratory horse artwork appearing primarily on the gift boxes. An exception is Bin 389, which features the horse artwork directly on the bottle for the 750ml and 1.5L releases. The designs draw inspiration from traditional paper-cutting art, layered in red, gold and jade tones. From 31 January to 8 February 2026, Penfolds hosts a Chinese New Year pop-up at Harbour City, Hong Kong, featuring a horse façade, wine tastings, personalised digital calligraphy and exclusive gifts-with-purchase, including a limited-edition Penfolds mahjong set.

Beyond the bottles already in this roundup, several other houses have also released Year of the Horse designs for Chinese New Year gifting. Rémy Martin’s 2026 Chinese New Year collection applies galloping artwork to special-edition bottles and gift boxes across key expressions like XO and VSOP. Royal Salute similarly unveils a Chinese New Year special edition of its 21 Year Old Signature Blend, presented in a festive, collectible pack built around auspicious symbols for the season. On the whisky front, Glenmorangie has a CNY 2026 Year of the Horse edition notably listed in travel retail. Taiwan’s Kavalan joins in with its 2026 Chinese New Year gift collection, using horse-and-peony artwork prominently on the outer packaging as a celebratory motif. And for baijiu collectors, Luzhou Laojiao has Year of the Horse releases tied to festive retail activations.

- T -