Sweet sipping
The world's most popular blended Scotch struts its stuff with three Johnnie Walker Houses in China. Mike Peters seeks out the malty essence at the Beijing establishment.
The silver-stoppered bottle in front of us costs more than 5,000 yuan ($781), and we've just splashed a bit of the golden elixir on our palms and rubbed it into our skin.
It's the end of an elegant Sunday brunch with a more down-to-Earth price (358 yuan or $56). My host, Reto Kistler at Beijing's Johnnie Walker House, has just brought out some of "the good stuff". It's the Scotch whisky's Private Collection 2014 Edition - one of 8,888 bottles made. The string of eights is a portent of good things to come on two sides of the globe: The liquid is smoky and smooth as silk, though perhaps an expensive choice for hand lotion.
