Johnnie Walker has today unveiled a 'pioneering' new whisky which is available exclusively at its Princes Street location ahead of a worldwide launch next month.
Arriving today at Edinburgh’s eight-floor whisky experience, Johnnie Walker Blue Label Elusive Umami is a limited-edition release crafted by master blender Emma Walker and Japanese chef Kei Kobayashi of Paris’ three Michelin Star restaurant Kei.
The duo joined forces to create a spirit that encapsulates the ‘inscrutable taste of umami’, a Japanese word used to describe what is a hard-to-define flavour, possessing 'mysterious' qualities.
The result is said to be a “beautifully balanced Scotch of sweet and savoury flavours, with notes of blood oranges and red berries with sweet wood spice, a touch of smoked meat, a hint of salt and pepper with a long, sweet fruit finish”.
READ MORE: 'A dream come true': Opening date announced for 'cult pizza restaurant' in Glasgow
Chef Kei Kobayashi said: “Umami possesses a mysterious quality that ignites our senses, revealing sumptuous taste, complexity, and depth.
"Encapsulating that alluring flavour through Johnnie Walker Blue Label Elusive Umami allows you to immerse your palate in an exquisite Scotch Whisky of subtle richness.”
Johnnie Walker Princes Street guests will soon have the chance to sample a limited-edition Umami cocktail on the 1820 Bar roof terrace and take part in an immersive 60-minute tasting experience.
Further details are due to be released on social media profiles in the coming weeks.
Johnnie Walker master blender, Emma Walker, said: “When Chef Kei and I set out to capture the essence of umami, we wanted to push the boundaries of what Scotch could be and bring a truly innovative offering to the world of whisky and flavour.
“For Johnnie Walker Blue Label Elusive Umami, only one in 25,000 casks in our unparalleled reserves of more than 10 million maturing casks made the cut in our painstaking search for that elusive flavour profile.
"Each expression of whisky was hand-picked to create an umami profile, just like ingredients for a recipe, allowing us to bring the unique character of this innovative whisky to life.”
To mark the world exclusive, Edinburgh’s West End will be illuminated with a new projection inspired by Japanese Zen Caligraphy as part of a complete takeover of the venue.
The Johnnie Walker Blue Label Elusive Umami will launch worldwide from Monday, October 16.
For more information on Johnnie Walker Princes Street find their website here.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here