Beyond The Classics: Fruit-Forward Whisky Experiments With Johnnie Walker Black Label

What happens when four bars from across the nation embark on a vision to reimagine one iconic whisky? Johnnie Walker Whisky Experiments answered this in its latest edition, held on World Whisky Day 2026 (on May 16) in Delhi. 

Evolving from a celebrated cocktail initiative to a modern interpretation of whisky consumption,  the latest edition envisions an unexpected transformation of whisky cocktails, driven by four distinct flavour territories- fresh, fruity, spicy, and coffee. Bringing this vision to life are four of India’s leading bars, each taking ownership of a flavour territory. Nutcase, a cocktail parlour from Kolkata, India, took charge of fruity whisky cocktails with the smoky and spicy Johnnie Walker Black Label. They are versatile and layered, yet rooted in familiar flavour profiles. 

Tucked inside a 109-year-old building, Nutcase, the limited-seating cocktail parlour, not bar, isn’t built on strategy. Rather, it focuses on preserving a slice of life — the intention of returning to a familiar, favourite haunt. After all, in an age of infinite choices, repetition is a luxury. As the team puts it, “Nutcase isn’t just about what’s poured into the glass. It’s about what happens around it.” 

The vision of Nutcase started with Chef Rituparna Banerjee (Ritu) and Avinandan Banerjee, founders of Curry Fwd Collaborations. Rahul Banerjee and Swanan Sarkar joined Avi and Ritu as co-founders, bringing with them a new generation of bartending talent shaped by travel, competition, and exposure to diverse drinking cultures. Having worked across some of the country’s most respected bars, both bring a contemporary, craft-forward perspective to Nutcase. Swanan is known for his instinctive approach to flavour, experimentation, and cocktail development, with recognition across several national and international bartending platforms. Rahul’s approach is rooted in honest, intuitive hospitality, shaped by his experiences across food, beverage, and international hospitality spaces. Together, they continue to shape Nutcase through a shared focus on curiosity, creativity, and evolving cocktail culture.

Their bar and food programme, thus, is constantly moving between classics and experimentation, shaped through local references, ongoing curiosity, and continuous iteration. In 2026, the focus on balancing unpredictability with comfort landed Nutcase the 15th position on the 30 Best Bars India list. 

For World Whisky Day, the bar team at Nutcase brought three cocktails that effortlessly moved between spirit-forward blends and fruit-forward mixes.  

The following recipes use Johnnie Walker Black Label. You can use any other whisky of your choice. 

Mango Season

The first drink on the menu, Mango Season, draws on a figure synonymous with Indian summers—the pulpy, sweet mangoes. The cocktail imbues fruit’s cultural familiarity into a classic whisky format, creating a flavour profile that’s instantly recognisable, yet slightly unexpected. 

With a whisky, in this case Johnnie Walker Black Label, at its core, the cocktail is layered with miso-mango liqueur for a more refined, umami-led expression. It also includes orange bitters for dryness and structure, balancing the fruit and savoury elements into a cohesive profile. The garnish, a raw and ripe mango jujube with kasundi, brings sweet, tangy, and mustard-spice notes inspired by the familiar Kolkata sight of eating mango with kasundi. More than just an accompaniment, it adds an interactive, multi-sensory layer to the drink. The whisky’s natural fruit, vanilla, and gentle smoky notes allow it to stand confidently against the mango flavours, creating a cocktail that feels layered, nostalgic, and distinctly whisky-forward.

Berry Good Time

From seasonal, nostalgic touches, the cocktail menu moves to global classics, taking on the classic Boulevardier cocktail. The Berry Good Time reimagines the spirit-forward serve into a more fruit-forward expression using modern clarification techniques for a cleaner, smoother finish. Here, the fruit remains fresh, and the whisky, like Johnnie Walker Black Label, stays firmly at the centre. To keep the bittersweet structure of a classic Boulevardier cocktail, the drink brings in a bitter aperitif and rosso vermouth, while moving into a brighter, more fruit-forward space through mixed berries. 

Apple Walker

The highballs are having a global moment, and thus inspired the Apple Walker, a savoury cocktail that explores a lighter style of whisky drinking. Built around the classic pairing of Scotch and apple, this layered cocktail uses Johnnie Walker Black Label as its base, balancing crisp apple brightness with the whisky’s subtle smoky depth. A touch of soy adds a quiet savoury layer that brings complexity without overpowering the drink. Finished with carbonation, the cocktail takes on a light highball-style format, well-suited to evolving preferences for bright, fruit-forward whisky cocktails. 

Each drink draws from classic cocktail structures while incorporating modern techniques, fresh fruit elements, and a balance designed to resonate with the Indian palate.

Whisky, a drink that was once considered stiff and serious, is pushing the boundaries of what goes into a cocktail. The classics are not just getting reinterpreted but rather, writing a new story. Here, seasonal produce meets global bartending techniques and nostalgia is filtered into a glass. In such a scenario, cocktails are no longer just an accompaniment to a meal, but a complete culinary experiment in a glass. 

In this way, Whisky Experiments is redefining the role of whisky in bar menus, tapping into the lived experiences of bartenders, chefs, mixologists, and more. The drinks are no longer just “inspirations”; rather, they indicate a broader shift in how whisky is being interpreted across Indian bar programmes. Here, flavour leads, boundaries dissolve, and experimentation takes the centre stage. 

*Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.