Johnnie Walker Blended Whisky

Johnnie Walker is a brand of blended Scotch whisky, part of the Diageo drinks group. The name draws on the legacy of John ‘Johnnie’ Walker, who was the first to sell whisky in his grocer’s shop in Ayrshire, Scotland, including his own production whisky under the name Walker’s Kilmarnock.

In 1865 John’s son Alexander produced their first blend, Walker’s Old Highland. From 1906–1909 John’s grandsons George and Alexander II expanded the line and introduced the colour names. Red Label  is a blend of around 35 grain and malt whiskies. Black Label blends around 40 whiskies, each aged at least 12 years.

Green Label is a vatted malt whisky that contains 15 individual single malts, the signature malts being Talisker, Cragganmore, Linkwood, and Caol Ila , average age of 15 years. Gold Label represents an extremely rare blend of over 15 single malts, including the very rare Clynelish malt. It was derived from Alexander II's blending notes for a whisky to commemorate Johnnie Walker's centenary.

Blue Label is Johnnie Walker's ultimate blend. Every bottle is serial numbered and sold in a silk-lined box, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. Although no age is declared, it is believed that the whiskies blended are aged for over 25 years.

Scotch whisky

The styles of Scotch Whisky:

• Malt Whisky is produced only from 100% malted barley.
• Grain Whisky derives from a mixture of cereals (e.g. corn, maize) that may or may not include barley.
• Blended Whisky combines grain and malt whiskies.
• Vatted Malt Whisky (aka Blended Malt) involves the blending of several single malt scotch whiskies from different distilleries.

The traditional regions of Scotch whisky
Lowlands: North of the English border, and south of a line drawn between Greenock in the west, and Dundee in the east, Lowlands produces subtle whiskies of delicate floral, grassy character and little or no peat influence.

Highlands: This is a broad area, lying between Speyside and   with distinct regional variation in the malts produced, ranging from richness and fullness of flavour (Northern Highlands) to sweet, delicate peatiness (Eastern Highlands), to maritime characters (Western Highlands), the clean fruitiness (Perthshire)

Speyside: It encompasses more than half of Scotland's distilleries. Speysides are essentially sweet whiskies, with just a whiff of peatiness, typically highly perfumed, feminine and elegant.

Islay: The peaty soil and Islay's maritime exposure on the west coast of Scotland results in the most robust, oily, heavily-peated, medicinal style of malts.

Campbeltown: At the toe of the Kintyre peninsula, it counts only two active distilleries, Glen Scotia and Springbank. The whiskies share a distinct maritime influence (salty and sewed characters) overlaid with smoky notes

The Scottish Islands: Orkney, Shetland (with Scotland's most northern distillery), Skye, Mull, Jura and Arran typically produce robust malts, at various degrees of peat and smoke intensity. Some are more akin to Highland malts, others evoke Islay malts.

As well as the whiskies listed below in the BBR website,  the Spirits Room in our London Shop holds further stocks of  rare and premium whiskies, many exclusive to Berry Bros & Rudd.