The Johnnie Walker House Pop-Up and Exciting New Things to Look Forward to with the World’s #1 Scotch

Johnnie Walker, the world’s #1 Scotch whisky launches The Johnnie Walker House, a series of pop-ups that feature a highball bar where guests can discover and enjoy the flavors and signature smoothness of Johnnie Walker in a laid-back and relaxed setting.

The Johnnie Walker House Pop-Up was officially unveiled last October 5 at its first location in Burgos Park, BGC. Guests were encouraged to sample the variety of ways to enjoy their whisky by choosing their mixes and ingredients to create their DIY Highball.

As a special treat, Johnnie Walker offered guests from the media and social influencers a special key that opened a designated slot in a locker with a bottle of their signature Johnnie Walker Black Label. Holders of the key can get their bottle and enjoy it in the premises, and leave the unfinished bottle for bottle keep until a later visit.

The Highball menu of the night featured Black Smoky Highball (Johnnie Walker Black Label, ginger ale, burnt rosemary, served in a salt-rimmed glass salt), Double Black Creamy Highball (Johnnie Walker Double Black, soda water, honey, served in desiccated coconut rimmed glass), and Gold Fruity Highball (Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve, apple juice, apple slice, served in a brown sugar rimmed glass).

The Johnnie Walker brands available on regular nights are Johnnie Walker Red Label, Johnnie Walker Black Label, and Johnnie Walker Gold Label, which you can enjoy neat, on the rocks, or in highball mixes, and range from Php100 to Php300 per serving.

They are putting the spotlight on highballs for this series. “The Philippines is a hot country. A lot of people enjoy their whisky neat or on the rocks, but sometimes you want something a little bit more refreshing as well.” shares Cesar Gangoso, Marketing Director of Diageo Philippines. “At the core of the Johnnie Walker brand is the drive to continuously push the envelope in creating ways for consumers to enjoy whisky. We want to encourage people to experiment. You don’t have to follow strict rules.”

Johnnie Walker encourages those who choose to drink to do so responsibly. They have a water station so people can space their drinks and rehydrate. “One of the things we take to heart is responsible drinking,” he stresses. “We walk the talk when it comes to responsible drinking, so for our events, there is always water readily available.”

Johnnie Walker House Worldwide 

The Johnnie Walker House Pop-Up is a sneak peek of Johnnie Walker House, which is an exclusive embassy for luxury Scotch whisky. Each is built around the theme of ‘Whisky Conversations’ and are designed to immerse guests in the history and origins of the Johnnie Walker brand, where patrons can enjoy exclusive personal service, meals, and drinks, the famous Whisky Tasting Course, access to a Scotland trip concierge and the right to attend and host luxurious private events at flagship locations. It brings together whisky innovation with art, design, fine-dining, and culture. Membership to this luxuriously curated space is by invitation only.

There are six Johnnie Walker House locations outside of Scotland: four flagships in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Seoul; and two retail boutiques at Taoyuan International Airport (Taiwan) and Mumbai International Airport (India). Two further retail boutiques will open at Changi Airport (Singapore) and Schiphol Amsterdam Airport (Netherlands).

The Johnnie Walker House Pop-Up in BGC is the first in a series, which will continue even when the permanent House opens in Manila. “They serve two very different purposes,” Cesar informs, “In Beijing House, they feature rare, exclusive kinds of whiskies, and that’s what you’ll see in the permanent House here. The Johnnie Walker House Pop-Up that goes from place to place, normally feature the signature range of Johnnie Walker.”

“Normally people go to the House for collectibles, but they rarely consume it,” he continues. “So this one, we wanted it to be an experience where people really enjoy the drinks. I think that will be the difference. The range will be different in terms of what you see in the permanent House versus the Pop-Up because the popup is meant to be a socializing experience.”

Events at the Johnnie Walker House Pop-Up

The official launch of the Johnnie Walker House kicks off a month-long series of activities. The pre-game show for All of the Noise 2018 Music Festival is on October 12, with sets by Sandwich, Cheats, and Jason Dhakal among others. AXN takes over the Johnnie Walker House on October 19 with their signature Freedom Fridays event with live performances, games, and giveaways. On October 20, Johnnie Walker partners with lifestyle publication Purveyr to kick off the #JohnnieWeekend x Sound Fiesta live series.

There will be a lot in store for all the pop-ups. Watch out for quiz nights, bar takeovers, and more #JohnnieWeekend collaborations that put the spotlight on the passion and craft of local trailblazers. Events for next year will also feature Game of Thrones, with viewing parties, and more fun activities.

More to look forward to this year:

Johnnie Walker White Walker Release

Speaking of Game of Thrones, the hottest bottle that people are clamoring for is the White Walker by Johnnie Walker. The release is part of a bigger partnership between HBO and Diageo which includes a Game of Thrones Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection featuring eight Scotches from the distillery.

The White Walker bottling uses temperature-sensitive ink technology that gives an icy reveal on the bottle graphic when frozen. It’s not just the bottle that’s special. The blend has a very different taste profile to it, inspired by the frozen north, and is made from single malts from the Cardu and Clynelish distilleries in northern Scotland, and was created by whisky specialist George Harper. The White Walker will be available major retail stores in the Philippines by December 2018.

Diageo Booth at Whisky Live 2018 

Whisky Live, the biggest annual international whisky event, is going to be in Manila for the third time on November 9 to 10, and the Diageo booth is one that we look forward to visiting every year. They have some exciting things planned for the big event. “We took it upon ourselves to step up how we do whisky live this year. The Johnnie Walker booth will be super special,” Cesar shares. “We’re going to put the spotlight on some of the malts that go into Johnnie Walker. Sometimes people don’t also know that there’s like 30 of the world’s best malts that go into Johnnie Walker. It’s going to be amazing, and it’s going to be different from what you’ve seen in previous years.”

They recently released Singleton of Dufftown into the market and will have a very special booth Singleton booth, aside from the Johnnie Walker booth. Global Scotch Whisky Ambassador Ervin Trykowski will also be attending the whisky festival. “Whisky has been growing in this market, we just need to give people more options,” he says.

The Johnnie Walker House Pop-Up bar is open from Tuesdays to Saturdays form 5:00 pm to 2:00 am and will be open to the public until October 22. Catch the next leg when they move to Greenbelt 3 Makati from November 21 to December 28 for the holiday season.

For more information and updates on The Johnnie Walker House Pop-Up bar and events, follow Johnnie Walker Philippines on Facebook and @johhniewalkerph on Instagram.