Whisky and Harris Tweed: the ideal partnership

“Two Scottish icons” – Harris Tweed Hebrides and Johnnie Walker whisky – have come together in a collaboration that puts the island fabric at the heart of one of Scotland’s most prominent visitor attractions.

Launched on St Andrew’s Day, the Johnnie Walker x Harris Tweed collaboration features a beautifully designed bottle of the Johnnie Walker Limited Edition Princes Street Blend, accompanied by a bespoke Harris Tweed carry bag. The full collection includes a wide range of Harris Tweed products.

The Johnnie Walker Experience, at the west end of Princes Street, has quickly become one of the capital’s leading visitor attractions and the Harris Tweed Hebrides collaboration is first in a series “that brings together the world’s leading Scotch whisky with Scotland’s best creative forces to create unique and collectable whiskies”.

Launching the new whisky, Barbara Smith, managing director of Scotland Brand Homes at Diageo, said: “Our collaboration with Harris Tweed has been an exciting way to celebrate the first experimental bottling finished here in our cellar at Johnnie Walker Princes Street.

“The partnership brings together two iconic Scottish brands, and the resulting collection embodies our shared heritage and passion for blending – whether that’s liquid or thread. We’re sure it will provide festive gift inspiration for whisky and style lovers alike.”

The wider Johnnie Walker collection of Harris Tweed products includes gilets, baseball caps, scarves, hip flasks, coasters and watches. Most items are made in the UK with the bags hand produced in the east end of Glasgow by a company called BeYonder which specialises in sustainable fabrics.

Mark Hogarth, creative director at Harris Tweed Hebrides said: “We have been hugely excited about this project with Johnnie Walker and feel a lot of synergy between our brands. While Johnnie Walker carefully blends liquids to create flavour, Harris Tweed expertly weaves different shades of wool to produce colour and pattern.

“Johnnie Walker felt like a great partner for Harris Tweed, through the shared craftsmanship, luxury ethos and art of blending”.

He pointed out that the collaboration brings together two of Scotland’s most venerable and recognisable brand images – Johnnie Walker’s “striding man” dates back to 1909 and Harris Tweed’s Orb mark was registered the following year.

The design team at Shawbost, led by Calum Iain Macleod, was given the brief that the tweed should “draw cues from the homes of each partner - the Hebrides and Edinburgh”.

As a result, according to Diageo: “The colour palette of the islands – rich greens, turquoise and sky blue – provided the vibrant tones of the plaid, while the traditional street maps of Edinburgh inspired the coral red detail. The inter-weaving of these two locations reflects the tradition and modernity that both Johnnie Walker and Harris Tweed embody”.

Diageo say the unusual maturation conditions of the Princes Street cellar, which is warmer than traditional warehouses, “enhanced the impact of the wood, pulling in all the oaky flavours, leading to a rich and creamy oak nose, a palate of honeysuckle and red berry flavours and a long and fruity finish with warming wood smoke”.

The Johnnie Walker x Harris Tweed Hebrides collection is now available to purchase exclusively at Johnnie Walker Princes Street, with blend plus bag coming in at £169.

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