Johnnie Walker Princes Street Reveals New Shop

Johnnie Walker Princes Street has revealed new images of its state-of-the-art whisky shop, which will offer limited edition bottles, exclusive whiskies and a custom studio, as it prepares to open in summer 2021.  

The shop, which will be the Johnnie Walker’s biggest, will open as part of the eight-floor whisky visitor experience later this year, offering a modern whisky shopping experience inspired by the Johnnie Walker brand. Second only to the store in Madrid’s city centre, the new space, designed by brand innovation studio, Dalziel & Pow, will offer visual theatre, storytelling, and experiences where whisky lovers can discover the world of Johnnie Walker and an imaginative, changing collection of local and exclusive products and experiences.

Johnnie Walker Princes Street shop will include:

• Personalisation: Spanning 320 square metres, the ground-floor retail space will incorporate a personalisation area where visitors can customise their bottles with engraving and bespoke label printing services. Guests will also be able to bottle their own exclusive whiskies only available at the Edinburgh shop. 
• Whisky: Whisky lovers can explore and buy a wide range of Scotland’s rarest whiskies as part of its whisky treasure trove. This section of the store will feature bottlings from Johnnie Walker’s Four Corner distilleries – Glenkinchie, Cardhu, Caol Ila and Clynelish – as well as Diageo’s wide range of whiskies. 
• Johnnie Walker merchandise: As well as offering a range of whiskies, the Johnnie Walker Emporium will sell exclusive Johnnie Walker merchandise, such as sustainably sourced clothing, home accessories, and bar tools. Customers will also be able to shop highball ingredients and cocktail kits to create their favourite Johnnie Walker cocktails at home. 
• Interactive flavour journey: Guests new to whisky have the opportunity to start their own whisky journey with a unique interactive flavour activity which matches customer’s preferred tastes and scents to their perfect whisky profile. So whether you’re a fan of fruity tastes or prefer more of a smoky base, there is something for everyone.

Greg Klingaman, Diageo’s Global Retail Director, said: “At Johnnie Walker Princes Street, we want our visitors to begin their immersive storytelling experience from the moment they walk through our doors.  Our whisky emporium will be the first and last point of their journey with us, which is why we’ve taken so much care and attention to the design of the space. This is whisky retail like you’ve never seen it before, and we can’t wait to share it with our visitors once we open the doors.”

“As well as offering our visitors a truly memorable, immersive shopping experience, we’re also delighted to bring a new retail offering to the iconic Princes Street. There’s never been a shop, never mind a whisky store, like this in Edinburgh’s city centre, and we’re proud to introduce this new modern retail concept to the city.”

The Edinburgh West End building, which Johnnie Walker Princes Street now calls home, has housed retail for almost 100 years, such as department stores Binns and House of Fraser, and the famous corner’s retail legacy will continue through the whisky emporium. 

Johnnie Walker Princes Street will take customers on an immersive storytelling experience of the brand’s 200-year-old story, featuring modern sensory tasting rooms, personalised tour and tasting experiences, live performance areas and rooftop bars.