Whisky John Walker & Sons - Blend Scotch Whisky - King George V Design by Angel Chen

Johnnie Walker

The art of blend

It was in 1820 in Scotland that John Walker had the idea of ​​selecting malts of various characters in order to create a whiskey with a unique taste, richer and more balanced. When his father, a farmer, died, John Walker invests his entire inheritance in the opening of a shop in which he sold a whiskey made from different malts that he blended to create a palette of tastes and flavors that may be reproduced identically. The art of blending was born.

If the spirits distillation results from a defined process, the blending only relies on human skills, those of the Master Blender. On the shelves of his grocery store we could find, among the other single malt whiskies, a quickly popular "Walker's Kilkmarnock". He died in 1857, leaving his son Alexander a prosperous business. In 1865, Alexander Walker developed with his son, Alexander Walker II, the "Walker's Old Highland" whisky, which gave the family business a bump in notoriety.

The galloping industrial revolution brought the railway to the city of Kilmarnock and Alexander intended to seize the opportunity to publicize his mixture. He designed the square bottle, which was easier to transport in crates and above all more visible on store shelves, with a slanted label. He then had the ingenious idea of ​​hiring ship captains, so that they could carry his whisky wherever ships could navigate. Soon after, his unique blend became available worldwide.

In 1889, Alexander died, leaving the business to his sons, Alexander II and George, master blender and shrewd businessman respectively. In 1909, Alexander and George decided to rename their new line of whiskeys after the colors of their respective labels. The Johnnie Walker Red Label and the Johnnie Walker Black Label were born. Around this time, Tom Browne, a very well-known young illustrator at the time, sketched an idea for a logo on the back of a menu, while they were having lunch together.

Alexander and George immediately embraced the image of "the striding man". Suddenly, John Walker the Victorian grocer became Johnnie Walker, the Edwardian dandy. At the end of the 20th century, the innovative whiskeys of Johnnie Walker Red Label and Johnnie Walker Black Label were joined by Johnnie Walker Blue Label. This award-winning line continued to grow, with the recent appearances of Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve and Johnnie Walker Platinum Label.

Discover the Johnnie Walker whiskies.