Johnnie Walker is almost synonymous with Scotch for many people, and there’s a good reason for that. Today the brand sells over 130 million bottles a year, coming a long way from the brand’s humble beginnings in an Ayrshire grocery shop in 1820. The original John Walker’s sons started the rise to an international brand in the 1860s, when the ban against selling blended whiskies was overturned.Today, Johnnie Walker offers a variety of blends. There are five colored labels:

• Red: a concoction of 35 grain and malt whiskies used in mixed drinks or solo
• Black: 40 12-year-or-older whiskies
• Gold: at least 15 single malts generally 15-18 years of age
• Green: a blend of Scottish malts at least 15 years of age
• Blue: the premium blend which goes for 200 or more on the open market

In addition, there are two other blends widely available: “Red & Cola,” which is just what it sounds like, and “Johnnie Walker Swing,” named for its unusually rounded bottle. A wide variety of premier limited-edition blends are available in differing quantities, with the “Blue Label 1805″ as the rarest: only 200 bottles were available for the 200^th anniversary in 2005, and they were presented to individuals of merit around the world.