To mark The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, John Walker & Sons, Scotch Whisky Distillers By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen, has created Diamond Jubilee Blended Scotch Whisky by John Walker & Sons, a unique blend of grain and malt whiskies all distilled in and maturing since 1952, finished in a marrying cask of English oak from The Queen’s Sandringham Estate.
Just 60 of these rare editions, one for each year of The Queen’s reign, will be offered for sale at £100,0001 each. John Walker & Sons will donate the profits from the sale, with a guarantee of at least £1million, to Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), the charitable arm of the Royal Warrant Holders Association that preserves rare craft and conservation skills and enables them to flourish.
Master Blender Jim Beveridge and his apprentice Matthew Crow explored vast stocks of Scotch Whisky to seek out some of the most exceptional casks of whiskies distilled in 1952, the year The Queen acceded to the throne, to craft the exquisite liquid. Jim drew on expertise gained over more than 30 years and inspiration from the Walker family blending notes to create this peerless blend with a unique sense of provenance.
The Diamond Jubilee marrying casks are the final project by Master Cooper David Taylor, working with his journeymen tutors and apprentices, as he retires after 42 years as a John Walker & Sons cooper. Sandringham oak, provided by kind permission of The Queen, has been cut and carved into staves, shaped by hand and jointed seamlessly using age-old techniques to create the two small casks.
Resting at Royal Lochnagar Distillery, on the edge of The Queen’s Balmoral Estate, the marrying casks will be observed closely through this traditional finishing process, which allows the flavours to combine gradually, before bottling on 6 February 2012, 60 years to the day since The Queen acceded to the throne.
John Walker & Sons has brought together fellow Royal Warrant Holders, QEST Scholars and leading artisans to present the whisky. Baccarat, the ultimate reference in luxury crystal, is making the diamond-shaped decanters, which stand on a base of six radial legs to reflect each decade of The Queen’s enduring reign. They will be decorated with Britannia silver adornments, including the John Walker & Sons Royal Warrant, entwined JW&S monogram and a collar that features a half-carat diamond, by Scottish silversmiths Hamilton & Inches. The silver will be hallmarked with the commemorative Diamond Jubilee mark.
Each decanter will be accompanied by a pair of specially designed lead crystal glasses by Cumbria Crystal, engraved by Philip Lawson Johnston with wildlife scenes from The Queen’s Balmoral and Sandringham Estates. QEST Scholar Laura West will create a hand-bound artefact book telling the story of craftsmanship behind Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons, personalised with the name of each owner by QEST Scholar and Calligrapher By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen, Sally Mangum.
All these elements will be housed in a bespoke cabinet by N.E.J. Stevenson, incorporating oak and native Caledonian pine from The Queen’s Sandringham and Balmoral Estates and decorated with fine marquetry using timber veneers from around the Commonwealth.
Just 60 editions will be created and released for sale to raise funds for the QEST Diamond Jubilee Appeal, to support its mission to preserve traditional craftsmanship as symbolised by the Royal Warrant of Appointment.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
A CELEBRATION OF CRAFTSMANSHIP
John Walker & Sons has brought together some of the finest craftsmen and women, including fellow Royal Warrant Holders and QEST Scholars, to create exclusive, bespoke pieces to accompany the whisky:
• Baccarat – the ultimate reference in luxury crystal for almost 250 years
Eight of Baccarat’s ‘Meilleurs Ouvriers de France’ (‘Best Workmen of France’) will create the multi-faceted, diamond-shaped decanter, which rests on a crystal stand with six radial legs, each one reflecting a decade of The Queen’s enduring reign
• Hamilton & Inches – Silversmiths By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen
Scotland’s leading jeweller and silversmiths will fashion a Britannia silver decanter collar set with a half-carat diamond, a John Walker & Sons Ltd Royal Warrant and entwined JW&S monogram to adorn the crystal, and a silver transit stopper
• Cumbria Crystal – only maker of English full lead crystal
Combining traditional glassmaking skills with contemporary design, Cumbria Crystal is creating a bespoke lead crystal glass, cut with six main facets to mark six decades of The Queen’s reign and with the John Walker & Sons monogram engraved in the base
• Philip Lawson Johnston, Hand Engraver of Glass By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen
Philip will draw upon the rich wildlife that thrives at The Queen’s Balmoral and Sandringham Estates, including stags, golden eagles and pheasant to hand engrave the pair of crystal glasses that will accompany each edition
• N.E.J. Stevenson - Cabinet Makers By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen
Neil Stevenson has selected Sandringham oak, from the same harvest used for the whisky marrying cask, for his craftsmen to make the cabinets, with hand-dovetailed drawers crafted using native Caledonian pine from The Queen’s Balmoral Estate, decorated with marquetry using timbers from around the Commonwealth
• Laura West – QEST Scholar, classically trained bookbinder
The pages of the book telling the story of Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons and containing the signed certificate of authentication will be letterpress printed on a traditional hand press and then hand bound by Laura using cream alum tawed leather covers and natural linen stitching
• Sally Mangum – Calligrapher By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen, QEST Scholar and Trustee
Sally’s elegant copperplate script, written using antique steel nibs hand dipped in iron gall ink, will personalise each book with the name of the owner, and ornament the stories of remarkable craftsmanship
A minimum donation of £1,000,000 from the sales of Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons will be given to the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), a registered charity in England (number 802557). 10% will be paid to the charity through QEST Enterprises Ltd (which donates all its profits to the charity) and 90% will be paid to the charity direct.
ABOUT DIAMOND JUBILEE BY JOHN WALKER & SONS
The 60 editions of Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons will be released by John Walker & Sons for sale at £100,000 (excluding UK VAT).
A minimum donation of £1,000,000 from the sales of Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons will be given to the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), a registered charity in England (number 802557). 10% will be paid to the charity through QEST Enterprises Ltd (which donates all its profits to the charity) and 90% will be paid to the charity direct.
ABOUT QEST
The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) is the charitable arm of the Royal Warrant Holders Association, established in 1990 to mark its 150th anniversary and the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
QEST provides scholarships to preserve rare skills and enable those talented craftsmen and women with promise and a long-held passion for their craft to achieve greater levels of excellence through study with masters of their craft around the world.
THE JOHN WALKER & SONS COLLECTION
Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons is a unique, extremely limited celebratory edition from the John Walker & Sons Collection. Drawing on almost two centuries of expertise and unparalleled stocks of Scotch Whisky, the John Walker & Sons Collection is an example of supreme crafting and innovative blends with pioneering flavour styles. The John Walker & Sons Collection comprises King George V, created to celebrate the granting of the Royal Warrant to John Walker & Sons in 1934 by King George V, The John Walker Blended Scotch Whisky, crafted using handpicked whiskies from just 9 distilleries open during the time of John Walker and blended in limited quantities to produce a masterpiece, and Johnnie Walker XR 21 year old, the blend created in honour of Sir Alexander Walker’s knighthood awarded in 1920.
ABOUT JOHN WALKER & SONS
John Walker & Sons is part of the Diageo Group.
It is the founding company behind Johnnie Walker®, the world’s number one selling Scotch Whisky brand, enjoyed by people in almost 200 countries around the world.
ABOUT DIAGEO
Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, beer and wine. These brands include Johnnie Walker®, Guinness™, Smirnoff™, JεB™, Baileys™,
Cuervo™, Tanqueray™ and Captain Morgan™.
Diageo is a global company, with its products sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit us at Diageo.com. For our global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit DRINKiQ.com.
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