Inside Edinburgh's high-tech and shiny £150m tourist attraction
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Whisky drinking is a pastime I have always been happy to leave to other people. In truth it was to avoid the risk of it leading to a more fulfilling existence than my overdraft can handle. A bit like collecting vinyl or having a second child. So given that the itinerary for this two-day trip to Edinburgh – the home of Hogmanay – included a visit to the Johnnie Walker Experience, the dread I felt as a Peroni guy wasn’t so much caused by wondering if I might have to feign enjoyment, it was about the potential repercussions of exiting the tour with a spirit(ual) epiphany.
After answering some questions about my palate, I was soon tentatively sipping my first tailored whisky sample. Decent. Then the second. OK, this is not unpleasant. And then the third. A celestial cocktail creation whose recipe is now committed to memory in perpetuity like a school assembly hymn. Hold my beer. I’d like a Johnnie & Cream Soda Highball topped with cold-brew coffee and a sprig of barley, please.
Eleanor took us on a voyage of the Johnnie Walker Experience’s immersive rooms – a maze of sleek, 360-degree wall projections, hand-gesture recognition and flashy LED effects. The Princes Street facility cost an eye-watering £150million to construct and it shows.
Evie, a young woman resplendent in bowler hat, tails and cane, was cast as chief storyteller, playing the part of the company’s eponymous striding founder, often while gliding past the seated audience on a mini travelator. Just because she could, I guess.
