Diageo’s Johnnie Walker Princes Street, the new eight-floor visitor experience has opened in Edinburgh after being four-and-a-half years in the making. It’s the centrepiece of Diageo’s £185million pound investment in Scotch whisky tourism in Scotland, and to mark the opening a Johnnie Walker flag was raised above the landmark building by Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive, Diageo, and Barbara Smith, Managing Director of Johnnie Walker Princes Street.
Click on the images to enlarge
It has two rooftop bars and a terrace with views of the Edinburgh skyline, including the Explorers’ Bothy whisky bar stocked with 150 different whiskies, and the 1820 cocktail bar where drinks are ‘paired with a carefully curated menu sourced from, and representing in culinary form, the four corners of Scotland.’ The building can also host events in its 200-capacity space.
Barbara Smith, Managing Director of Johnnie Walker Princes Street, said, “We’re thrilled to be opening the doors and helping to re-build the tourism and hospitality industry after a very difficult 18 months. The story of the world’s best-selling whisky has been brought to life with flair and imagination and we have built a team which includes some of the most talented individuals in their fields. We are now ready to welcome visitors and begin telling the next chapter of how we are woven into the fabric of Scotland’s history and communities.”
Diageo’s £185m investment includes the transformation of distillery visitor experiences around Scotland, including Glenkinchie, Clynelish, Cardhu and Caol Ila – the Lowland, Highland, Speyside and Islay homes of Johnnie Walker.
Johnnie Walker Princes Street will open its doors to the public at 1 pm on Monday 6th September. Tickets for tours start from £25 per person, including a 90-minute tour and three personalised Scotch whisky samples (all samples are provided with carefully controlled measures and non-alcoholic alternatives available to all guests).
Facts about Johnnie Walker Princes Street visitor experience:
- Set over 71,500 sq ft, it takes the concept of personalisation to a scale never before seen in a global drinks visitor experience.
- Visitors on the Johnnie Walker Journey of Flavour tour will have their personal flavour preferences mapped with drinks tailored to their palate.
- With more than 800 flavour combinations available in the innovative dispensation systems, one person could visit Johnnie Walker Princes Street every day for more than two years and not have the same experience twice.
- Over 150 diverse and talented new employees, speaking 23 languages between them, will bring to life the 200-year story.
- The cellar has become a true whisky treasury with some of the most unique whisky casks in the world gently maturing and waiting to be sampled by guests.
- The building – formerly a traditional department store for almost 100 years – will contain a state-of-the-art experiential retail space where shoppers can select from rare and exclusive whiskies, fill their own bottles and have them personalised.
- Johnnie Walker Princes Street opens its doors with a Green Tourism Gold Award – the highest sustainability accolade for a visitor attraction. The building includes roof terrace planters to provide herbs for garnishes and infusions for drinks, a sedum roof covering and bird boxes to encourage biodiversity.