New master blender for Johnnie Walker as industry legend retires

Johnnie Walker, the world’s best-selling Scotch Whisky, has announced that Dr Emma Walker will take over the reins from Dr Jim Beveridge OBE, who retires at the end of the year after more than 40 years at Diageo, 20 of which as Master Blender.

Emma will be one of a small, select group of people, and the first female, to take on the coveted role of Master Blender in more than two centuries of the business’s existence, the first being founder John Walker.

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Aptly named, although no relation to the Walker family, Emma joined Diageo 13 years ago and has gained extensive knowledge and experience of Scotch production and innovation to become a highly respected blender who has worked extensively on Johnnie Walker for the last six years. Her innovations include the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare series and Jane Walker by Johnnie Walker.

The role of Johnnie Walker Master Blender is one of the most coveted in the industry, and Emma will lead the 12-strong team of expert whisky makers in the pursuit of exceptional flavour, crafting and blending whisky from the four corners of Scotland to create the numerous Johnnie Walker variants which are sold in more than 180 countries around the world.

During her career, Emma has worked in different areas of whisky production; gaining experience and understanding of how flavour develops in fermentation, distillation, and maturation, striving to ensure quality at every stage of the process. She has spent several years working with Jim to develop an encyclopaedic understanding and knowledge of whisky.

In July, Diageo reported that global Scotch organic net sales grew 15 per cent year-on-year with Johnnie Walker organic net sales up 12 per cent, as the category benefited from the growing trend of premiumisation amongst consumers.