How whisky brands like Johnnie Walker are embracing the tech spirit with AI

The deployment of artificial intelligence is making a very real difference to the whisky industry

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming part of our experience, with the technology being used with a view to making our lives easier. This year’s Coca-Cola Christmas advert was created using it, and many of us use ChatGTP, and I for one often try AI-generated social media captions when feeling uninspired. But how is AI impacting one of our biggest and best known industries, whisky?

I wrote last year about this subject and, since then, the use of AI has stepped up a notch for some brands, while for others it’s not even a consideration.

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Charles Maclean, whisky expert, author and co-founder of the Maclean Foundation, maintains the use of AI by the Scotch whisky industry is an intriguing, but concerning subject. He says: “I have never used it, and I’ve yet to hear of any use of artificial intelligence in production. One area which concerns me is in relation to generating tasting notes – programming in hundreds of flavour descriptors, culled from published works by writers like myself, to generate tasting notes without human intervention.

“This would be iniquitous. Assessing whisky is both subjective and objective – as much art as science – intimately connected to personal experience and memory.”

Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith

One of the ways certain brands are engaging with AI this year is in creative projects. In the summer, Johnnie Walker Princes Street teamed up with artist Scott Naismith on its first AI-powered whisky bottle personalisation. Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith, harnessed cutting-edge, purpose-built AI technology to co-design and create unique bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue Label using Scott’s beautiful designs.

Scott, who painted the landscapes in the Explorers’ Bothy bar at Johnnie Walker Princes Street, says: “This AI project asks questions of human consciousness in the creative process, which is a fascinating idea within art. My work incorporates the philosophical concept of creativity in both its process and its theories. I begin with no drawing, just chaotic, energetic marks and refine it to tangible order. Really, I’m looking to balance the duality of order and chaos, so this project mirrors that ethos perfectly. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of the co-create process between user, artist and technology.”

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Rob Maxwell, head of Johnnie Walker Princes Street, adds: “The technology we used was phenomenal, demonstrating how AI can collaborate with us to produce truly unique creations. I believe that working hand-in-hand with AI has the potential to transform consumer behaviour when purchasing Scotch. By offering unique experiences, bespoke bottles, and meaningful partnerships, we provide consumers with the opportunity to own something personally crafted in collaboration with them.”

Rob MaxwellRob Maxwell
Rob Maxwell | Johnnie Walker

The Balvenie has also dabbled with AI for a recent creative project. Sean Fennelly, its UK brand ambassador, explains: “We aren’t using AI for any significant part of The Balvenie’s process, whether it be in whisky making or in the wider operation of the brand, but we did provoke a bit of debate on the topic last year through our yearly Maker’s Project. We worked with ceramicist Ryan Barrett and Futurist Anne-Lise Kjaer on a piece of sculptural pottery inspired by the pair’s visit to our distillery in Dufftown. Some of the forms and motifs used in the final piece emerged from AI reinterpretations of photography they captured during the visit, and it opened-up a conversation on what – if any – role AI has to play in traditional handcrafts.”

Creative projects aside, personalisation is what AI has been predominantly used for in whisky. Edinburgh University professor of data arts and society Drew Hemment has said: “AI can be seen as the Netflix for whisky”.

Rob explains how Johnnie Walker Princes Street has been using AI since it opened, to offer a personalised experience: “We’ve been leveraging AI-powered personalisation technology in our signature Journey of Flavour experience since we opened. In this, we use AI to work with our guests to decipher what their personal flavour profiles are to help guide their own whisky journey based on their palate, including three whisky-based cocktails which they receive along the way.

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“This experience has collected over 100,000 flavour profiles, helping us better understand our guests. This information has been instrumental in evolving our offerings to cater to all visitors and anticipate trends, enabling us to create and refine experiences across the venue.”

Another business that can see the benefits of AI-based personalisation and its use in understanding large amounts of data is the Dram Team. Founder Christopher Burrow says: “All of our tech is now incorporating AI, and one way I hope to use this in future – we’re not there yet – is to get better at bespoke products. For example, in our Find a New Favourite product, we get users to submit whisky scores. Over time, we’re going to end up with a lot of rather complicated and sprawling information that may be hard for a human – however geeky they are with a spreadsheet! – to analyse. This is the exact sort of task AI would be great for. So, in future, I hope to feed our customer scoring data into AI models with the aim of identifying relationships between scores and whisky preferences that we could never have found ourselves.

“The sort of insight we’d be looking for is ‘If a person rates Whisky B five out of five, and Whisky E four out of five, then they are 80 per cent likely to rate Whisky G five out of five’.

“These sorts of correlations are hard to see from data when analysed manually, but an AI model could be instructed to seek them and find them with relative ease. In this way, we would be able to get much better at recommending whiskies.”

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So AI can help consumers in their whisky journey, whether they’re just starting out or are seasoned aficionados looking for something new. But, Charles Maclean hopes we never lose the human touch: “Machines, for all their sophistication, can’t replicate the deeply personal nature of nosing and tasting. This raises a broader philosophical point – as we hurtle into a digital age, people will increasingly seek out genuine human experiences. Whisky, with its heritage, craftsmanship, and connection to place, is a perfect antidote to an overly digital world.

“Interestingly, I was recently alerted that some of my books have been fed into AI systems, without permission, let alone royalties. This is disturbing. Writers dedicate years to their craft, only to see their work consumed by algorithms without acknowledgement. It risks discouraging the next generation of writers and thinkers, which would be a great loss to the whisky world – and beyond.”

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