The Source
Tall tales
Two centuries of prowess, craft and heritage become proud history. That history, here in Scotland, has become an enviable inventory. Diageo holds more than 10 million casks, a vast library of flavour and character, styles bold and bright, which includes a range of luxury Scotch, such as Port Ellen, The Singleton and Lagavulin. A country is contained in these vessels – landscapes and seascapes, weathers and seasons, tall tales and twists of fate. All unique, all stories waiting to be told, experiences there for the unleashing.
A sleeping giant
The Brora distillery is named after its hometown on the coast of Sutherland, where the Highlands meet the sea and the wildcats that prowled the hillsides provide a wily symbol for the original whisky distillery. Casks rolled out but times changed, too. So, when those wildcat gates were locked for good in 1983, Brora fell silent. Whisky lore told of legendary “ghost” casks, long laid to rest, that capture the story of the distillery – and, indeed, Scotland – with such character, quirk and subtlety that Brora became known as a sleeping giant, biding its time to return.
The wildcat returns
Good things come to those who wait. In 2021, those wildcat gates swung open once more. Brora was revived, returning to craft small batches of exceptional Scotch. And now, for the first time, the Sutherland distillery’s newest single malts will be blended with those highly-aged “ghost” casks to create a bold new expression of extraordinary history and depth.
The Atelier: A New Expression
Living legacy
Beneath the Johnnie Walker Experience on Edinburgh’s Princes Street lies The Vault, an atelier containing a 500-strong treasury of gems chosen from Diageo’s vast portfolio of maturing casks. Neatly arranged around the walls of the Vault, each bottle contains a unique story waiting to be told. For Johnnie Walker Master Blender, Dr Emma Walker, The Vault is “a living, breathing thing” – never static, always changing. “I use all these elements to make a trail, a map, that allows me to tell the story of Johnnie Walker, the story of Scotland, in a glass,” she adds.
Blending artistry
It is here that Dr Walker created the new Johnnie Walker Vault expression. Her ability to characterise luxury spirits like a trained chemist yet express her vision like an artist puts her at the very top of her profession. “I think about flavour, of the whiskies we’ve made before, the heritage, different distilleries,” she says. Well-versed in the foibles of liquid behaviour, she can still be surprised, too. “You never stop learning when you bring artistry and science together,” she adds. The Vault embraces such serendipity; it is a place where craft becomes creation.
A love letter to Scotland
So, what’s in that bottle of Johnnie Walker Vault? “Butterscotch, caramel, vanilla pods, Seville marmalade and buttered toast,” says Walker. “It’s summer in the Highlands, maybe a bonfire on the beach.” Crafted in her notebooks, the Master Blender calls it her “love letter to Scotland”. But the ultimate expression of Johnnie Walker’s blending artistry? That lies in the bottle itself.
Exclusively available at Johnnie Walker Experience in Edinburgh, Harrods in London or online at Justerini & Brooks
