Johnnie Walker 1820 Bar
How do we transform a bar from a tourist attraction to a place everyone wants to drink?
1820 is the rooftop bar at the top of Johnnie Walker’s brand home on Edinburgh’s Princes Street, run by industry insiders Miran Chauhan and Murray Drysdale.
The bar had a visibility problem. Sitting above one of Scotch whisky’s best-known visitor experiences, 1820 was overshadowed by Johnnie Walker’s brand home below. The design was in need of refreshment, and the storytelling leaned so heavily on Johnnie Walker history that guests could be forgiven for thinking they’d wandered into an extension of the tour rather than a bar in its own right. The result was a room that lacked a clear statement of intent and failed to connect to the local market. It appealed predominantly to tourists but rarely to the more discerning local audience.
The question we were asked to answer: how do you turn a tourist attraction into somewhere Edinburgh actually wants to drink?
Our approach
We started with a deep dive into the sales mix, plus research in the city looking across competitors and the wider industry, along with workshops with the Johnnie Walker and 1820 teams to explore what the bar could become.
The result was a new positioning for the bar: A Walk Around the World, which aims to shift the bar’s outlook from Scottish history alone towards the brand’s two centuries of global connections and the countries, cultures and flavours Johnnie Walker has interacted with along the way.
We worked with Magpie Studio to build a new visual identity around that outward view, carrying it through the menu, wayfinding and digital presence.
From there, we worked across every touchpoint in the room. The layout was reworked, with new planting, wayfinding and additional furniture. Lighting shifted from bright and functional to something with real evening energy.
We consulted on music and DJ programming, recommended new uniforms and glassware, and supported an overhaul of the website and social channels, including tone of voice, content pillars and photography, to give 1820 a personality distinct from the rest of the building.
A new photography style now underpins everything from social to marketing, and we developed a full year activations strategy including activations, takeovers and events to keep the bar fresh and appealing.
The menu needed similar treatment. We gave creative direction and mentored the 1820 team through a full rebuild, producing a fresh set of drinks that each tell a story from Johnnie Walker’s travels.
The result is a bar that finally sounds like itself. Global in outlook, distinctly Edinburgh in spirit, and no longer standing in the shadow of the tour downstairs.
The Black Fire Sazarac
Johnnie Walker Double Black, Cognac, Rejuvenated Orange, Scorched Pepper
Inspired by Las Fallas, Valencia’s festival where huge figures are set alight every spring. Fire here represents regeneration, transforming materials into something new. The same principle runs through Johnnie Walker Double Black, where heavy charring shapes the whisky’s deeper, more intense character.
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