Walk into Walker's whiskey house

If you were expecting a traditional bagpipe serenad to mark the opening of Johnnie Walker’s first travel retail store in the departures section of the T2 Terminal of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, you’ve underestimated our airport’s security requirements. The bagpipes will follow later in a documentary of Johnnie Walker’s rich history. The first House of Walker in India may be the smallest yet and may lack the lounge facilities available in some of its other locations, but the 75-square-metre store retains its experiential and educative ambience. The walls of the elegantly understated semicircular space tell stories and specialist brand ambassadors are expected to take visitors on “a sensorial journey to touch, taste and smell the rare elements that make up Johnnie Walker”. Brazil may be the biggest Johnnie Walker consumer at present, but India’s first House of Walker—launched by Diageo Global Travel in conjunction with Mumbai Duty Free (a joint venture between DFS and Flemingo) and Mumbai International Airport Limited—is hoping to tap into India’s growing affluence and draw the attention of the 33 million or so (expected to grow to 50 million by 2020) passengers that journey through this space annually, according to Doug Bagley, Managing Director, Diageo Global. Starting December 2014, the exclusive editions at this store will include The Johnnie Walker House Art Collection–Mumbai Edition (US$390). You can pre-order by phone (24x7) once you have your tickets in hand or even whilst browsing before your departure and pick up your order on the way back into the country. To read the full story, go to: dnai.in/cmUY @AverilNunes