John Walker & Sons, Scotch Whisky Distillers By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen, celebrates sixty years since the Queen’s accession with the bottling of Diamond Jubilee By John Walker & Sons. The pre-announced last summer whisky has been maturing since 1952, the year she acceded to the throne.

Photo: Matthew Crow, Apprentice Blender at John Walker & Sons
with one of 60 decanters of Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons

David Gates, the Grantee of John Walker & Sons’ Royal Warrant will oversee the filling of The Queen’s decanter at Royal Lochnagar Distillery, on the edge of Her Majesty The Queen’s Balmoral Estate, David Gates. 60 further editions will be selling around the world at £100,000 per bottle.

All profits from the sale of these editions will be donated to the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) with a guaranteed amount of at least £1million and will support the excellence of craftsmanship as symbolized by the Royal Warrant of Appointment.

David Gates commented: “John Walker & Sons was first awarded a Royal Warrant in 1934 by King George V. We are extremely honoured that the quality of our whiskies is recognised by this symbol and our commitment to this calibre of quality and service is unwavering. Today in 2012, we are privileged to be able to celebrate The Queen’s remarkable achievement with this fitting tribute, Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons, the sales of which will help to create an enduring legacy for the supreme craftsmanship that it represents.”

The creation of Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons has been managed by Master Blender Jim Beveridge and his apprentice Matthew Crow who have overseen the whole process of the whiskies from the beginning. The final, traditional step of marrying has been carried out in casks made by the John Walker & Sons coopers using oak provided by permission of The Queen from her private Sandringham Estate.

The Jubilee whiskey features an outstanding design. The diamond shaped Baccarat crystal decanters stand on a crystal base with six radial legs to reflect the decades of The Queen’s enduring reign, and are adorned with Britannia silver, selected for its purity. Leading Scottish silversmiths, Hamilton & Inches, has fashioned the collars set with a half-carat diamond, the Royal Arms, John Walker & Sons monogram and individually numbered seals.

Each edition includes a pair of lead Cumbria Crystal glasses engraved by Philip Lawson Johnston and an artefact book, hand bound by Laura West at her Isle of Skye bindery and personalized for each owner by Sally Mangum, Calligrapher By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen. A chest made by the cabinet makers at N.E.J. Stevenson, incorporating oak from Sandringham to echo the whisky marrying casks and Caledonian pine from The Queen’s Balmoral Estate houses all these elements.