This past April, Johnnie Walker’s master blender Dr. Emma Walker and French fashion designer Olivier Rousteing teamed up to create a unique whisky blend. Just in time for the holidays, the duo are back with a brand new expression, the aptly named Couture Blend.
It is a limited-edition Scotch that is a blend of 10 different whiskies from the Johnnie Walker Vault, which is located beneath the Johnnie Walker Princes Street building in Edinburgh. The Vault contains 500 rare Scotches, which were selected from Diageo’s stock of 10 million casks aging throughout Scotland.
Courtesy Diageo
Before stepping down last month, Rousteing served as the creative director of French luxury fashion house Balmain for 14 years — a position he assumed at the young age of 25. To honor his recent 40th birthday and his forward-thinking approach to design, Walker chose to include several whiskies of at least 40 years in age along with a few more modern, experimental expressions.
“I was inspired by Olivier’s story of progress over the last 40 years, from his early self-discovery to his daring modern creativity,” Dr. Walker said in a press release. “In this blend, I leaned into progressive and experimental whiskies from the past and present – whiskies that push boundaries just as Olivier does in couture.”
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Within The Couture Blend, there are incredibly rare whiskies, including ones from Port Dundas and Caledonian. Both are so-called “ghost distilleries,” since they are long out of business but there are still barrels of whisky produced at the facilities. Dr. Walker also included whiskies from Benrinnes, Cragganmore and Cameronbridge that were produced in the 1980s and ‘90s, as well as a handful of experimental Scotches from the 21st century.
“I chose rare malts from Roseisle matured in ex-wine casks for fruity tropical flavors, a spicy chocolate malt experiment from Teannich for tonka notes, and a ghost cask from Port Ellen for a unique cloak of smoke,” she says. The final blend was bottled at 44.8 percent ABV in Baccarat crystal decanters designed by Rousteing.
In a stride to marry tradition with contemporary flair, the decanters are based on Johnnie Walker’s classic square bottle design, but feature gold accents and exaggerated proportions: a broad, stout base; acute, angular shoulders; and an oversized square stopper.
“I wanted to create something that captures the tension between minimalism and maximalism, sparking conversation and curiosity, anchored in the present yet futuristic and timeless,” Rousteing said in the release
Johnnie Walker Couture Blend Price and Availability
The Couture Blend is available now at select luxury retailers worldwide for a suggested retail price of $2,500 per 700 mL decanter (with some retailers offering personalized decanter-engraving services). Only 1,500 bottles of this rare whisky were produced, so if you want one, you should act now.
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