Diageo Global Travel releases Johnnie Walker Lunar New Year limited editions

Leading Scotch whisky brand Johnnie Walker has revealed two limited-edition bottles to mark Lunar New Year.

The first is the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Lunar New Year bottle, featuring intricate illustrations by Chinese artist Shan Jiang which pays homage to the Year of the Tiger. The design portrays the tiger with golden wings as a symbol of strength and progress.

The second is the John Walker King George V Lunar New Year design, also illustrated by Shan Jiang. Artwork across the packaging marks the beginning of a new year and is inspired by the Oriental myth of the Bai Ze.

The liquid is drawn from rare casks, including whiskies from the now silent distillery of Port Ellen.

Tiger taking flight: The pack design of the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Lunar New Year bottle (above) and the John Walker King George V expression (below)

They are available at selected travel retail locations in Dubai, Singapore, South Korea and on Hainan Island, priced at US$350 for the Johnnie Walker Blue Label design and US$635 for the John Walker King George V design.

In Hainan, the limited edition is featured (since 26 January) in the Haikou Mission Hills resort where Diageo Global Travel recently opened a store in partnership with Shenzhen Duty Free (in the Haikou Mission Hills Duty Free City’s ‘Premium Wines and Spirits Gallery’, operated in partnership with DFS). The other boutique, a partnership with China Duty Free Group, is located at the Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex in Sanya.

Within the boutiques, shoppers can browse the extensive portfolio of the Johnnie Walker brand with experiences and activations created to celebrate the occasion. These include private tasting areas with experiential technologies, allowing consumers to sample the portfolio, as well as a dedicated gifting corner with options for personalising and engraving bottles or customising gift bags.

At the CDFG store, consumers can taste the liquid alongside their purchase. At the Shenzhen Duty Free store they can claim a silk scarf designed by Shan Jiang as a special gift.

The limited-edition bottles take prominence within the Diageo offer at key travel retail stores in this period

Diageo Global Travel noted in a statement: “Shan Jiang’s artwork echoes the rare whiskies and exquisite craft that creates the rich fruity flavours, perfectly balanced smoke and remarkable depth of character found in every bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label.”

Diageo Global Travel Commercial Director – APAC, MENA and India Sandra Tassilly said: “We’re delighted that Diageo Global Travel can offer shoppers in Hainan these unique bottles in celebration of Chinese New Year. Combining the rich history of Chinese culture with the world-leading Johnnie Walker whisky, the yearly edition collectable bottles are highly desirable for all consumers, and whisky enthusiasts in particular.

“The intricate designs are a perfect nod to the world-leading whisky inside these bottles, and they are perfectly aligned to the needs of luxury shoppers.”

The Johnnie Walker boutique at the Premium Wines & Spirits Gallery at Shenzhen Duty Free Haikou Mission Hills Duty Free City (trading as Times DF x DFS Haikou Mission Hills Duty-Free Complex 深免x DFS海口观澜湖免税购物城 ), which opened on 30 October. The store showcases the whole Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky portfolio, led by Johnnie Walker Blue Label.

Johnnie Walker Blue Label has a history of Lunar New Year releases, with the annual release of a bespoke pack and bottle design celebrating the Zodiac sign of each year.

Coming soon

The Moodie Davitt Report is delighted to announce the launch of 穆迪达维特中国旅游零售报告 – The Moodie Davitt China Travel Retail Report, a digital magazine dedicated to our industry’s hottest market.

The new digital title, to be launched in April, will be published in Mandarin and English five times a year across multiple platforms.

The launch edition will explore China Duty Free Group’s extraordinary rise over recent years to become the world’s number one travel retailer, together with a host of other high-quality features, analysis and interviews

This exciting new digital magazine from the world’s leading travel retail publisher will focus on all aspects of China’s travel-related ecosystem, including:

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  • Offshore duty free retail and the Hainan Free Trade Port
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