Johnnie Walker AI-powered whisky personalisation experience at Princes Street

Johnnie Walker Princes Street's Spirit Tourism Experience has created a brand-new, limited-edition experience harnessing cutting-edge, purpose-built AI-technology. The Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith experience, provides visitors with a chance to co-design their very own unique bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. Only available at the Edinburgh venue, the experience is set to run from August 1-31 2024, and is believed to be the first ever to combine world-class Scotch whisky, art, and AI.

The journey will invite visitors to shape their co-creation by answering simple prompts that will influence key themes in Scott Naismith’s work and ultimately their bottle design. Guests will answer up to three questions across four categories influencing the specially developed AI’s generation of colour, location, artistic style and even time of day. This will then determine the eventual look of their one-of-a-kind bottle, which is then processed in real time, colour-managed and printed in minutes using cutting-edge digital direct-to-shape print technology.

The Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith experience will be available for a limited time, and guests will be able to access it with every purchase of Johnnie Walker Blue Label in the venue’s retail store throughout August.

Johnnie Walker Princes Street keeps pushing boldly into the future of whisky experiences. Opening its doors in 2021, the highly anticipated attraction quickly became known for utilising modern technology to carve pathways for guests into whisky flavours and sharing the fascinating history of Johnnie Walker through immersive tours and tastings.

Most notably, its signature Journey of Flavour experience has successfully used innovative AI technology to map out flavour preferences for visitors based on their specific palates, helping whisky lovers and novices alike explore the versatility of Scotland’s national drink.

Scott Naismith

The bottle design element can be complimented at no extra charge by a bookable expert-led tasting of Johnnie Walker Blue Label, as well as a guided tasting of the incredibly special limited edition Johnnie Walker Blue Label ‘Elusive Umami’, in the rooftop Explorers’ Bothy bar. In addition to stunning views, the tasting will offer guests an up-close look at some of Scott’s previous work, which was created for Johnnie Walker Princes Street’s opening.

Naismith’s striking artwork includes the stunning Scottish landscapes surrounding the four key distilleries which contribute to the world’s number one Scotch Whisky brand1; Cardhu in Speyside, Clynelish in the Highlands, Glenkinchie in the Lowlands and Caol Ila on Islay. The Johnnie Walker brand has well established connections with the artistic community itself, through partnerships with the likes of James Jean and graphic designer Kushiaania.

Working closely with Johnnie Walker Princes Street and Diageo’s Breakthrough Innovation team in partnership with full service Creative & Technology agency, Phantom, Scott Naismith is excited to be at the forefront of such a pioneering take on art and whisky.

He said: “‘I believe creativity takes courage and boldness in risk taking. The project at Johnnie Walker Princes Street shows this throughout and as a consequence has been an honour to be a part of. With a brave exploration into the cutting-edge world of AI, this latest project is bound to surprise and impress in equal measure. I am excited to be part of it and am again impressed at the continued creative vision from the team at Johnnie Walker.”

“Since opening, Johnnie Walker Princes Street has striven to become a leader in using the power of AI to personalise guests’ experiences," said Rob Maxwell, Head of Johnnie Walker Princes Street. "Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith is an exciting new step in our commitment to offering those with various tastes and interests something completely different to what’s available in the whisky experience market. This partnership is a true one-of-a-kind, and we can’t wait to see the designs our guests will print on their bottles.”

Will Harvey, Senior Global Innovation Manager at Diageo, added: “This is the first pilot in a wider platform that the Breakthrough Innovation team is exploring, looking at how we can use AI responsibly to enable co-collaboration between fans and artists. Demand for personalisation shows no signs of slowing down, so we’re delighted to offer the chance to create one-of-a-kind AI-enabled designs with Scott. With Johnnie Walker Princes Street’s previous experience of using AI to enhance customer experiences, it’s the perfect place for us to launch this innovative offer to the world.”