The Scottish whisky brand is strengthening its identity with limited editions and innovative partnerships. This allows its products to reach new generations and gain ground in the luxury market.
The backbone of the brand is its Red and Black Label Scotch whisky , packaged in distinctive square bottles with slanted labels. Accessibly priced and perfect both neat and in cocktails, these whiskies are a staple in bars around the world. However, it was the launch of Blue Label in 1992 that really set Johnnie Walker apart from the pack.
As one of the first luxury label whiskies, the launch of Blue Label made a huge impact on the global whisky market. Consumers went crazy for it, and Blue Label helped pave the way for the luxury spirits market that is booming today. If you enjoy seeking out high-end tequilas, bourbons, or other spirits, you owe Johnnie Walker a thank you.
While the Diageo -owned brand has focused on limited editions and artist collaborations for its Blue Label over the past few decades, it has rarely altered the blend of the liquid in each bottle. Instead, it has stuck to the blend, selected and crafted from Diageo’s 11 million barrels of aged whiskey from more than 30 distilleries. While this pleases Blue Label fans, it seems to go against the philosophy of a company that proudly declares that its goal is to keep moving forward.
So, the brand did what it does best: it pushed its own boundaries and created something completely different. In 2023, it partnered with Michelin-starred chef Kei Kobayashi to launch Johnnie Walker Blue Label Elusive Umami . Crafted with a new blend that highlights epicureanism, this limited edition received rave reviews and proved to the brand that its fans were looking for something different. So, they decided to plan a new blend to follow up this launch.
They decided to do something unexpected and unprecedented with their latest limited release, which hit the market in October. Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet was created in collaboration with luxury skiwear and lifestyle brand Perfect Moment and Priyanka Chopra , intended to be enjoyed on the slopes after a day of skiing. Unlike any other high-end whisky, it is designed to be drunk chilled, straight from the freezer or over a large ice bucket. Crafted from whisky selected from around one in every 25,000 casks in Diageo ’s liquid library , it represents a unique and exceptional dram.
«To create a whisky that’s perfectly suited to Blue Hour and après-ski, Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet features whiskies from a variety of distilleries, including whiskies distilled during Scotland’s coldest months over the past 20 years, including Dalwhinnie , our highest altitude distillery. When winter temperatures are this low, we distill and condense a new, more complex, viscous spirit that, when matured and blended, is ideally served chilled,» explains Emma Walker , Master Distiller at Johnnie Walker.
«We also use an extraordinary expression from Clynelish , our northernmost distillery in the Highlands. It is renowned for its light, fruity and waxy character, and retains its rich, fruity notes and textures even when chilled. Serving Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet chilled brings out these fresh, floral and refined flavours, whilst developing hints of vanilla and spiced orchard fruits,» he adds.
For a Scotch whisky brand to recommend enjoying one of its most exclusive bottles chilled may seem unnatural, and it is. However, that mentality has been key to Johnnie Walker’s success over the past few decades. Being a blending house from the start, the brand was never tied to a specific location, allowing it to adapt and follow the path it believes best. As one of the crown jewels of the Diageo empire, the brand has the backing it needs to continue pushing its own boundaries.
Blue Label Ice Chalet comes at a pivotal time for the brand. Its highly successful Keep Walking marketing campaign is now 25 years old and has helped create an image of forward-thinking and positivity around the 205-year-old brand. The brand announced it will continue to reinforce this message, with a strong emphasis on engaging with Millennial and Gen Z audiences .
It recently ran a live commercial during the 2024 Emmy Awards and announced a special edition bottle with Netflix to coincide with the highly anticipated premiere of Squid Game season 2. The series, released during the pandemic, was a phenomenon and anticipation for the new season is high. Additionally, the brand launched several new products, including High Rye and Black Ruby , aimed at the growing global cocktail culture. They’re also betting on sustainability, with a lighter bottle design and one of the first paper-based bottles in the world.
Additionally, the brand opened Johnnie Walker Princes Street in Edinburgh , Scotland . As the brand’s first “permanent” headquarters, it offers whisky fans a physical place to learn more about the Johnnie Walker story. Located in the heart of Edinburgh, this eight-story building offers visitors a variety of interactive experiences, a retail store, and two rooftop bars/restaurants. According to the brand, it was a resounding success, welcoming more than one million visitors from 141 countries in the three years since its opening.
They say that for a business to stay on top, or in the case of Johnnie Walker, at the top, it can’t rest on its laurels. Well, it seems they certainly aren’t; on the contrary, they are forging ahead with innovations and creative ways of presenting their century-old whisky to the world. As the brand likes to say, they always make sure to Keep Walking , and it seems that’s exactly what they’re achieving.
