Johnnie Walker Blue Ice Chalet Tests The Outer Limits of Winter Scotch

Johnnie Walker Blue has unveiled a new limited-edition whisky designed to tap the flavor of an Alpine winter. Johnnie Walker Blue Ice Chalet is a winter whisky targeted toward après-ski occasions.

To capture the essence of winter, master blender Emma Walker and her team started by mining historical data from the UK’s Met Office (the national weather service) to track Scotland’s coldest winters over the decades. Walker then targeted Diageo’s most northern and highest-altitude distilleries, notably Dalwhinnie, Clynelish, and Brora, and set out to use whiskies distilled during those winters to create the desired wintry flavor profile.

“We’re almost taking apart Blue Label, and looking at those rare and precious whiskies, and bringing them together in a slightly different way,” said Walker. “We were thinking about new elements of flavors, and when it’s colder the distillation is a different process.”

The effect of winter on the distillation process is that cold weather brings quicker condensation of alcohol, which means a bit less copper contact for the spirit. That gives more depth and body to the whisky, according to Walker. With higher-altitude distilleries like Dalwhinne, for example, “you get a very different new spirit between winter and summer,” says Walker. “Less copper means more sultry, heavy, and full-bodied.”

Brora’s inclusion in the blend of course means some significantly old whisky—from 1983, the year of its closure, or earlier. That lends a light smokey element, and there's also the waxy-like texture of Clynelish. Other whiskies in the blend include Cardhu and grain whisky from Cameronbridge, which adds “cleanness, clarity, and color,” Walker said.

For drinking neat, it’s recommended that Johnnie Walker Blue Ice Chalet be placed in the freezer until at 23 degrees Fahrenheit before being served over a block of ice, a method that Walker acknowledges might make people hesistate. “Sometimes people say if you add ice it can dull the flavor, but to me, the fruit notes come to the fore, spice, berries, and apples, redness with fresh apple,” she argues. There are also Manhattan and Highball recipe recommendations.

The release is accompanied by all the usual Diageo bells and whistles, as the effort “blends après ski and fashion together” and aims to capture the “Blue Hour,” the time between sunset and twilight when skiing is done for the day and socializing begins. The bottle is presented in a bag that can be used as a crossbody bag when the bottle is removed. Blue Ice Chalet’s release is also accompanied by a line of skiwear from clothier Perfect Moment, an endeavor led by Indian actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas (who’s also a Perfect Moment shareholder).

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet is the second release in a series of limited-edition whiskies it calls The Cobalt series, following the launch of Johnnie Walker Blue Label Elusive Umami in 2023, partnership with chef Kei Kobayashi that aimed to express the enigma of umami. It’s part of an ongoing effort to partner with other luxury purveyors.

Johnnie Walker Blue Ice Chalet

ABV: 43%
Price: $350
Availability: Limited