British-Chinese illustrator Jason Lyons has revealed a project close to his heart as Lunar New Year is celebrated in Asia and around the world. Using his colorful dreamlike style, Jason painted the box art for Royal Salute whisky’s 21-year-old Lunar New Year Special Edition. The artwork, filled with symbolic imagery from the Far East, was a personal journey into Jason’s heritage and a fantastic project to be a part of.
Knowing of Royal Salute’s previous collaborations with illustrators for Lunar New Year editions, Jason reached out to the creative agency Boundless Brand Design in early 2023. Creative director Hamish Shand responded in the summer, inviting Jason to work on the 2025 edition with the theme ‚Igniting the Lunar New Year‘. Jason was tasked with creating a visual narrative that would resonate not just in China but across Asia, including Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.
The initial sketches were more intense and fantastical compared to the refined final outcome. Jason incorporated universal Asian symbols like the phoenix, crane, fish, and butterflies, representing renewal, prosperity, fortune, and longevity. The phoenix, in particular, holds deep meaning in both Eastern and Western mythology, symbolizing renewal, rebirth, grace, prosperity, power, harmony, and connections to the heavens.
Although the upcoming year is the Year of the Snake according to the Chinese zodiac, the chief character in the illustration is a lion, symbolizing both Britain, where the whisky is made, and China, where lion dances are part of the celebrations. However, a snake is subtly included as an Easter egg in the artwork.
The design also includes elements related to the product’s origins, such as the Strathisla distillery in Speyside, casks hoisted by the phoenix, the British crown, and the Tower of London. The scotch brand, always aged 21 years or older, represents the 21-gun salute given to Queen Elizabeth II during her coronation in 1953.
After completing the initial artwork, Jason was asked to create a similar composition for a Taiwan edition containing 23-year-old whisky. The focus shifted to Taiwan, also known as Formosa, during the colonial era, featuring the phoenix as a significant spiritual symbol in Taiwanese folklore, representing wisdom, virtue, nobility, harmony, and other positive qualities.