WILDLIFE


Going global


Asia’s wealthy elite can’t get enough of super-premium whisky – and Scotland’s distillers are happy to oblige


about all the markets where Johnnie Walker whisky was sold worldwide – around 200 dif - ferent places at that time. During the follow ing decade, Alexander Walker, his grandson, who was equally entrepreneurial and innovative, invented a swinging decanter for use on luxury cruise liners which moved to match the motion of the sea. Fast forward to the present day, and to


I


commemorate both the book and the swinging decanter Diageo has created a new whisky called John Walker & Sons Odyssey. The bottle is designed to sway gently and comes in a special swinging display case. But it’s the effort put into launching this new


product that has really caught the eye: Diageo has, fi guratively and literally, pushed the boat out. The drinks giant chartered a 187ft ocean- going luxury yacht, aptly named the John Walker & Sons Voyager, which has spent the past year circumnavigating the globe. From Shanghai to Singapore, Bangkok to Dubai and fi nally Portofi no to the Port of Leith, it has recreated the epic voyages that captains would have made to export Johnnie Walker whisky all over the world. In total, the yacht has covered some 16,000 nautical miles – a truly impressive feat, which the company is describing as ‘the greatest Scotch whisky odyssey of modern times’. Extravagant parties have been held on the


yacht in all of the iconic ports where it has docked, with celebrities and local VIPs invited onboard to sample the John Walker & Sons Odyssey. If nothing else, this whole exercise has


demonstrated just how much Scottish whisky is coveted the world over. Tom Jones, global ambassador for Johnnie Walker, travelled with the yacht on its entire journey and saw at fi rst hand just how much demand there is for premium whisky. ‘The reception we received everywhere was exceptional, and shows the high regard in which Scotland and Scotch whisky are held around the world,’ he says. So what about the whisky? Well, the John


150 WWW.SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK


n 1923 John Walker published a book called Around the World, which was essentially a travel guide with detailed information


Walker & Sons Odyssey, a blended malt made from three specially selected single malts from three different distilleries, is priced at just under £600 a bottle. It carries no statement of age, but is presented in a self-righting frame that allows it to rock nicely from side to side – a unique selling point that is proving irresistible to wealthy business types who want the swinging cradle sitting on their desk to impress clients. This kind of super-premium whisky is


exactly what wealthy consumers seem to want right now. Age used to be the crucial factor – the older the better, of course. Now, though, presentation and price seem to matter more. To tap into this emerging market of young


millionaires in Asia, Diageo has opened ‘Johnnie Walker Houses’ in Shanghai and Beijing. A third is scheduled to open in Seoul by the end of this year. These private whisky clubs invite select people, mostly high net worth individuals and VIPS, to exclusive tastings and events. Each House also boasts a blending room where very wealthy customers can create their own unique blends with the help of a master blender. These are the kind of ‘money is no object’ experiences that wealthy whisky consumers are willing to pay for. All in all, it’s a million miles away from


the tartan kitsch and kilts that would in the past have been used to sell whisky in foreign markets – and the response from abroad could hardly be better.


WORDS BLAIR BOWMAN


‘Age used to be the crucial factor – the older the better, of course. Now, though, presentation and price seem to matter more’


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15