Traveling for the first time to Jakarta, Jonathan Driver, global brand ambassador of Johnnie Walker sits down with Kyle Gregorio, fully pumped to share the story of a whisky company that started way back in the early 19th century.

Jonathan Driver, the global brand ambassador of Johnnie Walker, recently visited Jakarta to launch the new bottle and packaging of the brand’s premier whisky, Blue Label. In conjunction with this, Jonathan hosted a special whisky master class to introduce participants to the taste and experience of the rare craft and character of Jonnie Walker Blue Label. Blue Label is blended from only one in 10,000 casks, with 190 years of unbroken heritage in master blending.
It is of the utmost importance to Jonathan to tell the story of the humble beginnings of the brand. The theme chosen by the company to introduce the new design of the Blue Labe is epic achievements and after hearing just the beginning of the untold story of the brand, we quickly come to terms to how epic the achievements of the brand really are.
The Johnnie Walker archives tell us about a shop and a family business that started out from being a grocery store and how it evolved into an international brand. ‘We are still making it happen (evolving), the ripple effect from when Johnnie Walker threw that stone back in 1820, can still be felt today’ says Jonathan. He also adds that if Johnnie Walker was with us today, he would still recognize the product. Even from starting with just a grocery store to an international brand, the products still remain the same with only design alterations.

It was John Walker’s son, Alexander Walker, who put the whisky in the square bottles and put slanted labels on them back in the 1850’s when the business started to focus more into producing whisky. The brand is the vehicle of the business and back in 1890, the brand has already been in Asia entertaining and bonding people together, now the same effects are happening in our time. Back then, whisky was inconsistent and to guarantee that it was consistent, they brand it with the name. ‘The name becomes the brand, you promote the brand. The label is about the liquid, not the brand’ says Jonathan.
In a world where things become average and bland, Blue Label stands out. Johnnie Walker Blue Label is specially blended to recreate the authentic character and taste of some of the earliest whisky blends created in the 19th century. It sets the standard, with layers and layers of flavour from hand-selected, rare casks from across the distilling regions of Scotland. Its flavours are influenced by the smoke of the west and the rich, sweet whiskies of the east.
‘Now a great tasting whisky is in a great new packaging. What we have now was the same back then but had old packaging, now we have something that has evolved’ explains Jonathan.

Being the brand ambassador of Johnnie Walker has brought Jonathan around the world and has afforded him the chance to meet many interesting characters. Travelling around the globe, alone, might be tough on him but the result is that he now has connections the world over. And now, with the power of technology, he gets to be in-touch with his loving and understanding family even if he is miles away. Jonathan has met interesting people through his travel and he gets acknowledged when they know that he works for Johnnie Walker. When he travels and meets these kinds of people is when he realizes that what he works for is not just whisky but a phenomenon.
Before working with Jonnie Walker, Jonathan was a historian. He has combined his interest in history and his profession working for the brand. He is still digging up archives of the brand and that interests him. ‘I’ve always been blessed after 35 years of travelling, every time I’m about to take off from an airport I always ask myself, what is out there?’ shares Jonathan.