Planet Whiskies at Johnnie Walker Princes Street: Launch of Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet

Planet Whiskies visited The Johnnie Walker Princes Street in Edinburgh on Thursday, 17th October, for an exclusive Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet launch night. It was a fantastic experience, firstly visiting the shop on the ground floor and seeing all the merchandise that Johnnie Walker has available. After a long look around, it was time to head up to the sixth floor, where the 1820 Rooftop bar is situated and another room on the right of the lifts where the launch of Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet would take place shortly.

Walking into the 1820 Rooftop bar and seeing all the whisky brands available behind the bar was truly remarkable, and the view from the roof terrace must be one of the best vantage points in Edinburgh, looking at the castle and down Princes Street. The view is just fantastic, and we were lucky enough to be there as the sun was setting to the right of the building.

Now it was time to head into the exclusive launch of Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet, and walking into the room, it was impressive seeing the large' ice structure' sitting on the bar and wondering how it would be used later. I was welcomed to the event by a host of the Johnnie Walker team, who quickly organised a Johnnie Walker cocktail for me. The name of the cocktail was Ice Chalet Alpine Highball. It contained Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet, champagne cordial, Vichy St Yorre (French Bottled Water) and Génépi des Alpes (a traditional, alcohol-based liqueur from the Alps), and the cocktail was the perfect opening for this whisky event in Edinburgh. While enjoying the cocktail, we walked about the room and talked to others present, a mixture of press/media (written and online), PR agencies, and the Johnnie Walker event hosting team. While moving about the room, we approached a large window with a stunning view over North Edinburgh.

As the room filled, we all took our seats. There was a buzz around each table, waiting patiently for Rob Maxwell, Head of Johnnie Walker Princes Street, for his opening speech. Then Emma Walker, Johnnie Walker Master Blender, would give us a tasting of the new blend and tell us about the concept of Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet.

Rob Maxwell welcomed us to the event and told us all exciting facts about the Johnnie Walker Princes Street, how it is a whisky hub for new innovations in Scotch, and how they are always looking to surprise and delight their visitors with new, luxury whiskies that they can experience when they visit. He continued saying since its opening three years ago, that Johnnie Walker Princes Street has gone from strength to strength, welcoming whisky lovers from around the world to visit the store, engage in their whisky tastings and enjoy paired food and whisky in their stunning 1820 Rooftop bar.

Then it was the turn for Emma Walker, Johnnie Walker Master Blender, who took us through the concept of Blue Label Ice Chalet, and they set out to blend a whisky that was inspired by the Alpine landscape and captured the magic of special Après Ski moments. Emma carried on saying, "Using Met Office data, we uncovered rare expressions that were distilled in the depths of some of Scotland's coldest winters and blended these with whiskies from some of our most northern and highest altitude distilleries, including Dalwhinnie, Clynelish and Brora, to create a velvety smooth Scotch with Johnnie Walker Blue Label's signature depth of flavour at its heart."

This is the first time that Johnnie Walker has entered the Après Ski moment. The whisky has been blended from some of the coldest distilleries in Scotland, with Emma Walker recalling driving along the road past Dalwhinnie, where temperatures regularly drop to below zero. By adding ice to the blend, drinkers can evoke those cold temperatures and bring out the natural flavours of the whisky. With only one in 10,000 casks meeting the requirements to go into the blend, the complex flavours mix to create a rich depth that’s perfect after a day on the slopes.

Emma went on to say that this concept is part of the Johnnie Walker Blue Label series and is crafted in collaboration with the luxury skiwear brand Perfect Moment. A digital media campaign will start shortly, featuring renowned actress and producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

Now it was time to taste Blue Label Ice Chalet as the dram was delivered to everyone in the room with a large column of ice in each dram. Emma started on her tasting notes, telling us about the flavours found in this lovely blend. "With every sip, you can taste cinnamon-spiced apple that gives way to warm cloves and spices before finishing with subtle hints of Alpine smoke. "

Emma finished off, asking everyone to have another sample of the Blue Label Ice Chalet from the bar, and each dram was poured onto a large block of ice designed in the shape of a mountain with a unique 'Ice Helter Skelter" pathway from top to bottom. The dram started its journey at the top and gradually descended the ice before being caught in the glass at the bottom. This made the dram taste very cold and was the perfect outcome.

After Emma completed her closing statement, the groups around the tables were all talking about the uniqueness of this whisky and what a fantastic idea Johnnie Walkers had come up with bringing in the depths of alpine skiing with a blend that was created in the coldest parts of Scotland.

With the event ending, we all moved to the lifts and down to the ground floor, where we were given a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet that was personalised with our names and a crossbody bag. The process used engraving machines with lasers. You enter what you want the engraving to say, and this is scanned onto the Blue Label Ice Chalet bottle. The crossbody bag, which is perfect for carrying whisky, makes it a perfect Christmas present for any whisky fan and can be bought in the store on Edinburgh Princes Street if you require the engraving, or bought online at several whisky retailers without the engraving.

Planet Whiskies would like to thank Claire Cunningham of Smarts Agency for the invitation to this exclusive Johnnie Walker event and the perfect hosts from Johnnie Walker, who made the event successful.

Finally, a special thanks has to go to the main hosts of the evening, Rob Maxwell, Head of Johnnie Walker Princes Street and Emma Walker, Johnnie Walker Master Blender, who, with their speeches, made the event very informative.

Bookable from today, Ice Chalet experiences start on 30th October

Johnnie Walker Princes Street can be found at Address 145 Princes St, Edinburgh EH2 4BL
Phone: 0131 376 9494