New whisky visitor experience for Edinburgh
Based as we are in Scotland’s capital city, quaichshop is very aware of Edinburgh’s pull as a tourist destination, and its year round attractiveness to visitors from across the globe. So we are excited to hear that yet another string is about to be added to Edinburgh’s tourism bow, in the form of a state-of-the-art whisky experience for visitors, in the centre of the the city.
Drinks giant Diageo has announced its plans to build the Johnnie Walker immersive visitor experience, in order to further build upon the already successful whisky tourism scene in Scotland’s capital. The centre will be a part of wider plans, which will involve Diageo in an investment of around £150 million over a three year period, with the aim of transforming the Scotch whisky visitor experience.
Whisky from Diageo’s distilleries all over Scotland contributes to the Johnnie Walker blend. Once Diageo’s plans come to fruition, four distilleries, Glenkinchie, Cardhu, Caol Ila and Clynelish, will be linked directly to the Johnnie Walker venue in Edinburgh. These four distilleries will then represent the regional flavour variations of Lowland (Glenkinchie), Speyside (Cardhu), Island (Caol Ila) and Highland (Clynelish), which are crucial to the art of whisky blending.
The Company’s aim is that the new visitor centre in Edinburgh, together with these four distilleries, will create a “unique Johnnie Walker tour of Scotland”, which encourages visitors to the capital to also “travel to the country’s extraordinary rural communities”.
Diageo has indicated that they are still to choose a site for the Edinburgh visitor centre, which will be revealed in due course. Rumour has it that the former Binn’s/House of Fraser building at the West End of Princes Street is a strong front runner. Wherever it ends up being located, the building in Edinburgh will become a new hub for Diageo’s business in Scotland.
This exciting development has been warmly welcomed by both the Scottish and UK Governments. This blog will keep an eye on this significant milestone in Edinburgh’s tourist development, and will no doubt report back in due course as to how things are shaping up!