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Johnnie Walker
Type	Scotch whisky
Proof	80
Manufacturer	Diageo
Country of Origin	Scotland
Introduced	1820: Grocery store 1865: Scotch blending
Discontinued	White Label
Variants	Red Label, Black Label, Swing, Green Label, Gold Label, Blue Label
Related products	Ballantine's, Chivas Regal, Cutty Sark, Dewar's, Vat 69

Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced in Kilmarnock, Scotland by Diageo plc. It is the most widely distributed brand of Scotch whisky in the world, sold in almost every country and with yearly sales of over 120 million bottles.^{[citation needed]}

The "Striding Man," a figure used in advertisements for around 50 years. It was first created by artist Tom Browne based on a likeness of company founder John Walker.^[1]

Black Label and Green Label.

Originally known as Walker's Kilmarnock Whisky, the brand is a legacy left by John ‘Johnnie’ Walker after he started to sell whisky in his grocer’s shop in Ayrshire, Scotland. The brand became popular, but after Walker's death in 1857 it was his son Alexander Walker and grandson Alexander Walker II who were largely responsible for establishing the whisky as a popular brand. Under John Walker, whisky sales represented eight percent of the firm’s income; by the time Alexander was ready to pass on the company to his own sons, that figure had increased to between 90 and 95 percent.^[2]

Prior to 1860 it was illegal to blend malt and grain whisky.^{[citation needed]} During that time John Walker sold a number of whiskys—notably his own Walker’s Kilmarnock. In 1865 John’s son Alexander produced their first blend, Walker’s Old Highland.

Alexander Walker first introduced the iconic square bottle in 1870. The other identifying characteristic of the bottle is the label, which is applied at an angle of 24 degrees.

From 1906–1909 John’s grandsons George and Alexander II expanded the line and introduced the colour names. In 1908, when James Stevenson was the Managing Director, there was a rebranding of sorts. The whisky was renamed from Walker's Kilmarnock Whiskies to Johnnie Walker Whisky. In addition, the slogan, "Born 1820 – Still going Strong!" was created, along with the Striding Man, a figure used in their advertisements for around fifty years.

They dropped Johnnie Walker White during World War I. In 1932, Alexander II added Johnnie Walker Swing to the line.

Johnnie Walker continues to be blended in Kilmarnock, with a large plant just north of the town's railway station. The historic bonded warehouses and company offices (now local authority) can still be seen in Strand Street and John Finnie Street.

• Johnnie Walker Red Label — a blend of grain whisky and malt whisky, it is the best selling whisky in the world and the only Johnnie Walker product marketed with mixing in mind.
• Johnnie Walker Black Label — a blend of as many as 40 whiskies, each aged at least 12 years. Anecdotally^{[citation needed]}, this was the favorite Scotch of Winston Churchill Le Andre Scott.

Johnnie Walker Swing.

• Johnnie Walker Swing — named for the distinctive bottle, in which an irregular bottom allows it to rock back and forth. It was Alexander II’s last blend: it features a high proportion of Speyside malts, complemented by malts from the northern Highlands and Islay, and is "almost as sweet as a bourbon."^[3]
• Johnnie Walker Green Label — a vatted malt whisky that consists of a blend of about 15 individual single malts, the signature malts being Talisker, Cragganmore, Linkwood, and Caol Ila – Aged 15 years.
• Johnnie Walker Gold Label — a 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. His original efforts were thwarted by a shortage of these malts following World War I.
• Johnnie Walker Blue Label — 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 many of the whiskies blended are aged for 50 to 60 years.
• Johnnie Walker Blue Label 200th Anniversary — 2005 saw Johnnie Walker's extremely limited bottling of its ultimate blend. A special release of cask strength Blue Label, in a special square Baccarat crystal decanter. It sold for around $4,000 a bottle.

The following table lists the various Johnnie Walker blends, by years of production, and from least expensive to most expensive.

Johnnie Walker sponsors

• the Johnnie Walker Classic, an Asia-Pacific golf tournament
• the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, a golf tournament in Scotland
• the McLaren-Mercedes F1 team.

• A number of singers and songwriters have referenced Johnnie Walker in their works, including NOFX, Andre Nickatina, George Jones, George Thorogood, Elliott Smith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Amanda Marshall, Leonard Cohen, Jimmy Buffett, and Clutch.
• In Haruki Murakami's novel Kafka on the Shore a character appears named Johnnie Walker, his attire based on the red jacket, boots, cane, bowtie and hat worn by the character in the product's logo. Johnnie Walker is extremely popular in Japan.
• Léon Gontran Damas, French poet of the Negritude literary movement, titled one of his poetry collection "Black-Label", after one of his poems describing his spleen and mild alcoholism.
• In the 1958 movie A Night to Remember, the Steward (Thomas Heathcote) is determined to finish off a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red, despite the peril of the ship.
• Zakk Wylde named his heavy metal band Black Label Society after Johnnie Walker Black Label.
• In India, a popular actor and comedian in Hindi movies was nicknamed Johnny Walker.
• Disk jockey Johnny Walker took his name from Johnnie Walker.
• In the original version of the Adventures of Tintin story, The Black Island which takes place in England and Scotland, Tintin and Snowy ride on a rail tank car carrying Johnnie Walker.^[4] When it was updated in the 1960s, the tanker's label was changed to Loch Lomand.

• Official website

General references:

• Scotch Whiskey: A Liquid History by Charles MacLean. ©2003 Charles MacLean & Cassell Illustrated. ISBN 1-84403-078-4

Specific references:

1. ^ Hughes, John (2005). Still Going Strong: A History of Scotch Whisky Advertising, Tempus Publishing Ltd., ISBN 0-7524-3174-9
2. ^ http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Features/CA_Feature_Basic_Template/0,2344,737,00.html
3. ^ ^{a b} http://www.travelandleisure.com/tlgolf/articles/golf-one-sweet-swing
4. ^ http://dardel.info/tintin/variantes.html