SCOTLAND. The Johnnie Walker “˜striding man’ is arguably the most iconic figure in the global drinks industry. Created in 1908 to symbolise John Walker & Sons’ best-selling Scotch whisky blend, the monacled Johnnie Walker, complete with top hat, waistcoat, cane and boots, also forms the heart of the acclaimed “˜Keep Walking’ brand advertising campaign synonymous with the brand in recent years.
That campaign focuses on the concept of a journey. One tag line, for example, quotes Confucius – “A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step”. So when Johnnie Walker brand owner Diageo planned the official launch of its most expensive line extension ever – Johnnie Walker Blue Label King George V Edition – it decided that the event should reflect that heritage.
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| Still waters run deep: The purest of Scottish waters are an essential element of all the country’s famous single malts such as Cardhu, in turn an integral part of the Johnnie Walker blends | ||
It was touted as a journey through Scotland, a two-day immersion in the country’s geography, heritage, food and whisky. The selective launch brought together influential food and drinks writers from the key Asian target markets, some trade customers and, representing travel retail, The Moodie Report.
It was what Diageo Marketing Director, Global Travel & Middle East Nick Robinson described as “a proud and historic moment for us – the introduction of a new brand from Johnnie Walker”.
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| Johnnie Walker Blue Label King George V Edition contains some of Scotland’s rarest aged whiskies | ||
That introduction was carefully played out over two days that began at Aberdeen Airport and culminated in a Gala Dinner at Stirling Castle, accompanied by superb Scottish foods, the music of the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, and Johnnie Walker Blue Label King George V itself.
For the uninitiated, Johnnie Walker Blue Label is the top of the line ultra-premium blend from the Walker family (collectively the world’s best-selling Scotch whisky). Launched in 1992, largely through travel retail, it features a 19th century Walker bottle closed with a traditional cork and is made from 15 of the company’s rarest and most expensive malt grain stocks.
Blue’s duty free retail price is around €135/US$175. King George V takes much higher ground altogether, retailing at around US$400 duty free. It is – and needs to be at that price point – an extraordinary whisky. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First let’s take a journey through Scotland and through time.
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| A star is born: the beautifully packaged King George V contains a range of whiskies from the four corners of Scotland, including the prized Port Ellen on Islay, no longer in production | ||
DAY ONE – THE JOURNEY BEGINS
After an early morning rise to catch the flight up from London Heathrow to Aberdeen, it’s a fine but bracing day in the far north of Scotland. “˜Welcome to Scotland, the best small country in the world’ the airport posters proclaim. A group of journalists and clients from all around the world are about to discover why.
Next stop is Drummuir Castle, Diageo’s “˜Home of Scotch Whisky’ on Speyside, a magnificent facility built in 1847 by Thomas Mackenzie for Admiral Archibald Duff, whose career included service with Lord Nelson.
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| A taste of heritage – and of things to come: Drummuir Castle is Diageo’s ‘Home of Scotch whisky’ on Speyside | ||
The castle lies in a wooded glen between Dufftown and Keith, bang in the heart of that great malt whisky producing region of Speyside.
The Library must have hosted many a great night – there’s a full size snooker table, a big fireplace and a stunning selection of old single malts, ranging from 28yo Auchroisk to 35yo Millburn. The suitably dank cellar has a similarly great wine selection, and a few empties ranging from Grange 1980 to Lafite Rothschild 1970 – these walls hold a few stories no doubt.
Outside the temperature drops suddenly as a sun shower sweeps across the grounds. The trees are ablaze with brilliant autumnal colours, all ambers and gold. In the distance a rainbow forms. Perhaps its end lies at Stirling Castle where a pot of gold awaits. Liquid gold.
CARDHU DISTILLERY – THE HOME OF JOHNNIE WALKER
“Welcome to the home of Johnnie Walker,” says Nick Robinson (below left). It’s some home, featuring a visitor centre, still house, distillery and shop, as well as a dining room and lounge. We are taken on a fascinating tour, beginning with a model of the malting process (which happens off site), then moving through the various stages of distillation and finishing with a look at the giant barrels of Cardhu aging in the warehouse.
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| Nick Robinson (left): “This is a proud and historic moment for us – the introduction of a new brand from Johnnie Walker”; (Centre) A superb lunch after the Johnnie Walker tasing; (Right) Charting the various flavours that consumers find in the great whiskies of the world | ||
It’s the heat and the magnificent yeasty aromas that really hit you in a distillery – this is where a product of the land is converted by man into usquaebach, the water of life.
Our olfactory senses and palates provoked, we then head into a comparative nosing and tasting of the Johnnie Walker family – Red, Black, Green, Gold and Blue. No George V yet though – that must wait.
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| (Left) Guests learn about the distilling process at Cardhu from Andy Cant, Senior Site Manager Cardhu; (Centre) The magnificent stills, shaped like giant swans’ necks; (Right) Free of duty for once: Commercial Director, Global Travel & Middle East, Peter Jacobson | ||
The contrast between the blends is marked but they are all bound by the trademark smokiness of Johnnie Walker whiskies. Red Label is a zippy young blend; Black riper and fuller; Green, a blend of single malts, is complex and smoky; Gold is so honeyed you can almost hear the bees; and Blue is a big, rich number that unlike the others should not be cut with a splash of water. All great whiskies in their own right.
All that tasting and all of those flavours stimulate the appetite. It’s time for an excellent lunch and then the next stage of the journey. Keep walking.
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| Striding out in style (left): The iconic Johnnie Walker figure; (Centre and right) Visitors from Asia nose and taste their way through the Johnnie Walker family | ||
AVIEMORE STATION AND THE NORTHERN BELLE
After an hour’s drive through the glorious Scottish countryside, it’s getting dark and bleak by the time we arrive at Aviemore Railway station on the Highland Main Line. It’s a lovely, atmospheric and gorgeously old fashioned place, especially on a cold, misty evening. As our train, the Northern Belle pulls into the station it’s like a scene out of the 1945 Trevor Howard, Celia Johnson classic, Brief Acquaintance. So far this has been no ordinary journey, and the Northern Belle is no ordinary train.
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| Jonathan Driver (right): “This is all about a journey of experience and history and family” | ||
For the next three hours we are taken back in time. Jonathan Driver, our Master of Ceremonies and Johnnie Walker Blue Label George V Brand Ambassador, welcomes us onboard and says: “We wanted to give you a very special experience – to live the life of our ancestors at Johnnie Walker in the 1920s, the critical period for the third generation of the family.” It was that family that had overseen the company’s transition from small distillers to commercial powerhouse with Alexander Walker becoming one of the six wealthiest people in the UK as a result.
“This is all about a journey of experience and history and family,” Driver says. “It’s how the third-generation Walkers would have travelled. They were very, very wealthy – the elite. So we’re going back in time”¦ to the 1920s. And we’re going on a journey – to Gleneagles the great railway hotel of the era.”
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| Dining in style: A sumptuous dinner prepared fresh onboard the Northern Belle; (Right) The pipes, the pipes, are calling as guests are welcomed off the train to Gleneagles | ||
The Northern Belle (run by Orient-Express), which typifies the affluent “˜Belle’ trains of the 1930’s, is a wonderful blend of nostalgia and sheer unadulterated comfort. The Dom Perignon is as chilled as the Scottish night, the extended menu all prepared fresh onboard and of course there’s a dram or two of Blue Label to finish off the evening. It’s late in the night as we disembark, senses sated, and take the short bus ride to Gleneagles Hotel, the “˜Palace in the Glen’.
After a few late night drams – more than a few in some cases – the guests retire to bed. A day of exploring the magnificent Gleneagles facilities awaits. So does that elusive George V.
DAY TWO: GLENEAGLES HOTEL – MAJESTY AND COMFORT
Diageo’s claim that Gleneagles is “one of the world’s great hotels” would provoke little debate. Today it is one of Scotland’s leading golf (three courses), spa and leisure luxury hotels but it is also a gloriously understated, relaxed place. The Scots shun pomposity anyway and what you get instead is a vastly appealing blend of majesty mingled with stately comfort.
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| (Left) The magnificent entrance to Gleneagles Hotel; (Right) Travelling in style to the launch | ||
STIRLING CASTLE – HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMBINED
It’s 6.30p.m. and a pitch black evening at Gleneagles. The guests are gathered in the lobby, awaiting the big moment when Johnnie Walker Blue Label King George V is unveiled. It’s black tie for the men and evening dress for the ladies. We’re going to be tasting in style.
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| (Left) Martin Moodie and Nick Robinson, about to be whisked away in a 1973 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow as an extraordinary convoy descends on Stirling Castle | ||
This great journey has one final touch of refinement. Through the rain we see an extraordinary convoy of classic cars entering the long Gleneagles drive. The oldest is a 1933 Talbot (one of only seven left in the world). There are magnificent old Bentleys, Jaguars and Rolls Royces, all commissioned to take us to the culmination of the past two days.
The mist and swirling rain blend with the exhaust fumes from these beautiful examples of automotive excellence from a bygone era. It’s time to suspend belief and simply step back in time. The Moodie Report, in the company of Nick Robinson, purrs away in a gloriously silent 1973 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.
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| From horsemen to hounds to harpist, the surroundings evoke the heritage of Scotland | ||
“It’s a driech (miserable and wet) old evening,” says our driver, with a hint of understatement. He confesses with almost schoolboy enthusiasm that he is driving the vehicle for the first time.
“How fast can it go?” asks Nick.
“Oh, a comfortable 120-130mph – it’s a flying machine,” says the driver, keeping to a sedate 50mph.
On the way I chat to Nick Robinson about George V. The rollout will start next month in Asia, he says, followed by the rest of the world. “It’s obviously driven by the very strong demand in Asia for ultra-premium Scotch,” he says.
But he’s insistent that George V is no triumph of expensive packaging over substance. “This is a real limited edition,” he says, “it is scarce. We will only roll out as we build supply.”
Travel retail is integral to the brand’s development – a welcome affirmation of the channel’s importance to Diageo. “This is a very significant step for us,” he says. “There is a clearly an opportunity both from a retail customer point of view and a consumer perspective to trade up to something that has scarcity and is highly exclusive – as well as being associated with Johnnie Walker Blue Label.”
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| Ian Williams (right), Manager of the Home of Johnnie Walker (Cardhu), pours each guest a dram of George V | ||
In the distance we spot Stirling Castle lit up in the rain, the mist swirling around in the lights. As we arrive, the bagpipers are playing and we wind our way up the cobbled streets to the glories of this historic building.
They say whoever controlled Stirling controlled Scotland – even today it is described as the finest collection of Royal buildings in the UK. The castle stands imperiously on a hill, towering over some of Scotland’s most famous battlefields, including Stirling Bridge, the site of William Wallace’s victory over the English in 1927 and Bannockburn, where Robert the Bruce also defeated the “˜auld enemy’ in 1314.
Tonight a very different form of Scottish triumph is on offer, arguably one of the greatest whiskies ever produced. We head down to the vaults of Scotland’s foremost castle where we are each handed a Quaich (a traditional pewter or silver drinking vessel). Johnnie Walker’s aptly named master blender Jim Beveridge tells us how he set about creating a unique Scotch whisky that celebrated King George V honouring the company with a royal warrant in 1934.
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| Jim Beveridge: “We wanted to add some extra flavours, a lot more body and additional strength” | ||
Carefully a dram is poured into each Quaich. The waiting is over. “We wanted to add some extra flavours, a lot more body and additional strength,” explains Jim.
We’ve found the end of that rainbow. This is genuine liquid gold, a marvellously rich, complex blend with all the viscosity of melted chocolate. Yes, the trademark Walker smokiness is there but it’s also rich and fruity with a finish that simply refuses to die.
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| Chef Nick Nairn (left): “We’ve tried to create a little magic”¦ with authenticity, rarity and a royal connection” | ||
Now it’s time to celebrate. We head upstairs, out briefly into the courtyard outside and then into the Great Hall, Scotland’s largest medieval banqueting hall, restored beautifully to its original look from 1503. In charge of the six-course dinner is the country’s best-known chef Nick Nairn, the first Scottish chef to be awarded a Michelin star and the man chosen to cook the main course for the Queen’s 80th birthday banquet.
“My challenge tonight was to find the best Scottish ingredients, so that the total is better than the parts,” he tells us. “We’ve tried to create a little magic”¦ with authenticity, rarity and a royal connection.” Nairn’s magic quickly weaves its spell, starting with hand dived scallops fresh out of the Scottish waters that morning, partnered with Ayrshire bacon, salad, and a lemon butter sauce, finished, just for the sake of a little decadence, with caviar.
“Rain is just soft stuff that allows whisky to be made“ |
Nick Nairn |
The main course is Aberdeen Angus beef, hung for 30 days to lend extra tenderness. A violinist and harpist fill the huge room with gentle Scottish airs, their tunes studded with periodic bursts from the chef as he dives out from the kitchen to explain each course to the enthralled gathering. It’s a feast of the senses. Nairn even puts the weather outside in its rightful perspective: “Rain is just soft stuff that allows whisky to be made.”
Ben Anderson, Global Brand Director for Johnnie Walker, then leads us through an after dinner sampling of King George V. “Some of the whiskies in this glass are unbelievably rare,” he says. “Like a velvet envelope, your tongue is just ensconced in the flavour.” We lick our lips. The envelope is sealed.
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| The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland bring the evening to a memorable conclusion | ||
It’s a great climax to the evening – but there’s one more treat. Suddenly, thrillingly, the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland (pictured above) marches into the Great Hall, their pipes and drums filling the cavernous room. The much-played yet eternally poignant Amazing Grace is piped out across a spellbound audience. We follow the Band, still playing, out into the driech night, over the wet cobbled steps, down the hill in the rain and the mist. It is a simply unforgettable moment – and the finale to an unforgettable journey.
ABOUT JOHNNIE WALKER KING GEORGE V EDITION
Nose: Profound smoky initial aroma, followed by sweet fresh fruit (apples, pears, bananas) malt characterestics; developing into rich dried fruit/spicy complexity (raisins, figs, cinnamon).
Taste: Powerful, complex and rich – yet exceptionally smooth.
Finish: Rich and lingering peaty finish.
Price point: Around US$400 duty free (75cl)
