A WHISKY company has unveiled its first AI-powered bottle personalisation experience at its flagship Edinburgh-based tourist attraction.
Johnnie Walker Princes Street is inviting guests to discover Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith, a purpose-built AI-technology to co-design their very own bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label.
Only available at the Edinburgh venue, the experience is set to run from August 1 to 31 2024 and is believed to be the first ever to combine Scotch whisky, art and AI.
The venture is a partnership between Diageo’s Johnnie Walker, artist Scott Naismith and creative technology agency Phantom.
As part of the experience visitors will be able to shape their co-creation by answering simple prompts that will influence key themes in Scott Naismith’s work and their bottle design.
Guests will answer up to three questions across four categories influencing the specially AI’s generation of colour, location, artistic style and time of day.
This will then determine the eventual look of their bottle, which is then processed real time, colour managed and printed using digital direct to shape print technology.
With a bottle purchase, guests have the option to book a tasting of Johnnie Walker Blue Label as well as a guided tasting of the limited edition Johnnie Walker Blue Label ‘Elusive Umami’ in the rooftop Explorers’ Bothy bar.
The tasting will offer guests a chance to take in Naismith’s previous work, which was created for Johnnie Walker Princes Street’s opening.
This includes the Scottish landscapes surrounding the four main single malt distilleries which contribute to the Johnnie Walker blends: Cardhu, Clynelish, Glenkinchie and Caol Ila.
The Johnnie Walker brand has previous endeavours in the artistic community through partnerships with the likes of James Jean and graphic designer Kushiaania.
Johnnie Walker Princes Street opened its doors in 2021, with the attraction aiming to use modern technology to attempt to enhance guests’ experiences of tours and tastings.
The Journey of Flavour experience used AI technology to attempt to map out flavour preferences for visitors based on their palates.
Scott Naismith, landscape artist, said: “‘I believe creativity takes courage and boldness in risk taking.
“The project at Johnnie Walker Princes Street shows this throughout and as a consequence has been an honour to be a part of.
“The Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith experience will be available for a limited time and guests will be able to access it with every purchase of Johnnie Walker Blue Label in the venue’s retail store throughout August.
“With a brave exploration into the cutting-edge world of AI, this latest project is bound to surprise and impress in equal measure.
“I am excited to be part of it and am again impressed at the continued creative vision from the team at Johnnie Walker.”
Rob Maxwell, head of Johnnie Walker Princes Street, said: “Since opening, Johnnie Walker Princes Street has striven to become a leader in using the power of AI to personalise guests’ experiences.
“Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith is an exciting new step in our commitment to offering those with various tastes and interests something completely different to what’s available in the whisky experience market.
“This partnership is a true one-of-a-kind, and we can’t wait to see the designs our guests will print on their bottles.”
Will Harvey, senior global innovation manager at Diageo, added: “This is the first pilot in a wider platform that the Breakthrough Innovation team is exploring, looking at how we can use AI responsibly to enable co-collaboration between fans and artists.
“Demand for personalisation shows no signs of slowing down, so we’re delighted to offer the chance to create one-of-a-kind AI-enabled designs with Scott.
“With Johnnie Walker Princes Street’s previous experience of using AI to enhance customer experiences, it’s the perfect place for us to launch this innovative offer to the world.”
