Diageo opens third Johnnie Walker House in Asia

So has Tycoon Baroque replaced Dictator Chic? When opening their third Johnnie Walker house in Seoul in September 2013, Diageo allowed the photographers in to provide us, the hoi polloi, with a one-off peek into the rarefied ambience of the superrich. Not that Diageo’s “whisky embassies” are for the likes of you and me. No way.

While studying the photos from Diageo’s whisky embassies – Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul –, one can detect a definite stylistic thread: Diageo’s Tycoon Baroque is about the display of wealth and power in every possible form. Firstly, there must be gold. Lots of it. Secondly, there should be furniture by well-known international designers, preferably Italian. Thirdly, shiny, whether it be marble floors or patent leather, is a key element of Tycoon Baroque.

According to Diageo, the Johnnie Walker Houses are ultimate luxury venues for whisky lovers. There the visitors can acquaint themselves with the different types of Scotch whiskies offered by the company.

Seoul is Diageo’s third Johnnie Walker House outside Scotland, the first opening in Shanghai in 2011. Following its success, Diageo launched a second in Beijing in 2012.

The Johnnie Walker House in Seoul has been designed by the creative agency LOVE and is inspired by the “whisky conversation” theme. Whatever that is. Every room, display and interaction in the “House” engages customers in stimulating discussions, inspirational events, lectures and master classes.

The six-floor building has a distillery room, blending suite, VIP lounge and a rooftop bar where visitors can taste rare whiskies. Diageo are also offering limited edition Scotch whiskies, custom designed dinners, and other exclusively-Korean, modern whisky offerings in the House.

Diageo would not say how much they will charge for one of those exclusive tipples. In Beijing, visitors can purchase a range of whiskies available exclusively on site – such as the Johnnie Walker Epic Dates collection, retailing from GBP 2258 / USD 3600 – and work with the Johnnie Walker Master Blender Jim Beveridge to create a personalised blend. The latter service has an entry level price of GBP 80,316 / USD 128,000, it was reported.

It’s unclear if Diageo are considering these whisky embassies loss leaders or whether they make any money on them. In Shanghai and Beijing they probably make a nice profit.

Without doubt, Diageo are trying to make up the decline in sales in the Korean market by shifting their focus to premium brands and attract Asia’s high rollers who can afford to visit these establishments.

Those, who cannot cough up the – presumably – steep membership fee, can at least buy the whisky. After opening their Shanghai venue in 2011, sales of Johnnie Walker whisky in China increased by 64 percent year-on-year; this included Johnnie Walker Blue Label that grew 45 percent over the same period, UK media reported.