Bourbon in the Movies

[Harry in WashDC]

Not a bourbon, but --

TCM is showing 'The Apartment' (1960). Lord Calvert is featured in the bar Jack Lemmon goes to after he finds out Shirley McLain is seeing Fred MacMurray. LC was an American Blend in the 1950s then a Canadian when the US version became Calvert Reserve. Search SB for <Lord Calvert> for details.

[Lepisto]

It's been a while since I've seen it, but did they ever show what whiskey Morris Boilermaker drank in Bad News Bears (Walter Matthau version)? I know they showed him drinking beer a lot, but I could have sworn he took a swig of whiskey while driving his car full of players. Such a great movie.

[KyleCBreese]

I have been watching The Mind of a Chef with David Chang on Netflix. He goes to visit Buffalo Trace with Sean Brock and tastes a Van Winkle flight with Julian Van Winkle. I noticed in the background, there was a shelving unit with what looked like all of the BT offerings. I noticed a bottle with a big R&R on the front label. Anyone know what this whiskey is?

[tanstaafl2]

I have been watching The Mind of a Chef with David Chang on Netflix. He goes to visit Buffalo Trace with Sean Brock and tastes a Van Winkle flight with Julian Van Winkle. I noticed in the background, there was a shelving unit with what looked like all of the BT offerings. I noticed a bottle with a big R&R on the front label. Anyone know what this whiskey is?

R&R, also known as Rich & Rare I believe, is part of a surprisingly large amount of Canadian whisky mid/bottom shelf brands produced by Sazerac. They also recently released R&R Reserve. Caribou Crossing and Royal Canadian are two others I am aware of. R&R used to be Hiram Walker I believe.

Edited October 23, 2014 by tanstaafl2

[Harry in WashDC]

About a half hour into John Wayne's 'The Green Berets' (circa 1968), just after the poker game when the Captain played by Jason Evers says he's going to bed, the movie cuts to a scene in the camp dispensary. The Corpsman is tending a wounded trooper. He's giving the guy Jim Beam White by the spoonful. He and the 1st Sgt both mention it by name, and the bottle is clearly shown.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Harry in WashDC
Forgot to mentiun the movie.

[jvd99]

Last week on NCIS LA, Hetty, who always seems to be drinking booze after busting up another terrorist plot, offered up Pappy 23 to one employee as part of a lesson on doing things your own way (wheat vs. everyone else using rye). When the rest of the team interrupted, Hetty offered them MM - probably b/c she didn't want to waste her Pappy for such an unimportant event like socializing with friends. Offering up the MM kinda defeated the purpose of the original lesson b/c the Van Winkles aren't the only ones who use wheat and MM is the prime example. Of course, Pappy 23 was touted as the "best" which only adds fuel to the hysteria during the week it was landing in major markets.

[squire]

There was an early NCIS segment where Gibbs had a bottle of Ten High in his desk drawer so emphasis has shifted. As for Pappy, let 'em have at it, keeps attention away from the Bourbons that do interest me.

[jvd99]

I'm always wondering what Gibbs is drinking - they don't really show it. Surprised the producers haven't put in a shameless product placement on his work bench. BTW, why doesn't Gibbs keep a clean glass around, he's always dumping nails, screws, nuts, bolts etc out of his glass prior to pouring? Gross

[danz]

Last week on NCIS LA, Hetty, who always seems to be drinking booze after busting up another terrorist plot, offered up Pappy 23 to one employee as part of a lesson on doing things your own way (wheat vs. everyone else using rye). When the rest of the team interrupted, Hetty offered them MM - probably b/c she didn't want to waste her Pappy for such an unimportant event like socializing with friends. Offering up the MM kinda defeated the purpose of the original lesson b/c the Van Winkles aren't the only ones who use wheat and MM is the prime example. Of course, Pappy 23 was touted as the "best" which only adds fuel to the hysteria during the week it was landing in major markets.

[squire]

the history of Maker's should place it closer in style to what Pappy actually made.

[jvd99]

You win the prize for the first person to mention this -

[danz]

I've heard that old Maker's is similar to old SW. Unfortunately, I haven't tasted any old Maker's to see for myself. The current products, including the cask strength seem fairly different to me: mostly younger/less oak and sweeter. The current PVW that I have had seem very different: much more oak and spice notes.

[squire]

I was also wondering who made the first wheated bourbon, if it is known.

Generally credited to A.P. Stitzel who brought a knowledge of distilling wheat grain when he emigrated from Germany. He may have developed some wheat recipe Bourbon as early as the 1870s-80s and undertook further experiments prior to prohibition. When Pappy and his partners bought the Stitzel operation in the mid 1930s they got the wheat formula and the Stitzel employees who perfected it.

These distillers, along with Pappy, decided to continue with the wheat recipe because experiments convinced them it would mature faster than traditional rye recipes. Less aging means you can make it cheaper and sell it quicker which Pappy said made good business sense.

[flahute]

You win the prize for the first person to mention this - my wife and I were wondering how long it would take for the community to flag this bit of silliness. Also notable, Hetty and the former "computer girl" character are having what looks like 4+ ounce pours of whiskey in the office. I thought the Maker's request by LL Cool J, I believe, was actually a more clever reference to the history of these lines than occurs in most media, since the history of Maker's should place it closer in style to what Pappy actually made.

I was also wondering who made the first wheated bourbon, if it is known. As Chuck Cowdery has noted, including in the following post, Van Winkle did not invent wheated whiskey.

http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-about-makers-mark-origin-story.html

In fact, it was the subject of one of the humorous "definitions" in Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary, circa 1911:

http://books.google.com/books?id=FTAmU8NpomsC&dq=devil's%20dictionary&pg=PA366#v=onepage&q=wheat&f=false

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19793[/ATTACH]

Haha, yes, I was watching as well and noticed how large the pours were.

The writers were really working it by having Hetty go on about the bourbon that had been lovingly crafted by four generations of Van Winkles. Then, when Hetty offers the rest of the crew Maker's Mark, Sam (the LL Cool J character) says "It isn't Pappy, but it'll do."

I've also always surmised what would be a "Gibbs" whiskey. Ten High works. You know it has to be something cheap or regular.

[squire]

Later segments had him pouring Rare Breed in his basement though mistakenly referring to it as 126 proof.

[Harry in WashDC]

. . . In fact, it was the subject of one of the humorous "definitions" in Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary, circa 1911:

http://books.google.com/books?id=FTAmU8NpomsC&dq=devil's%20dictionary&pg=PA366#v=onepage&q=wheat&f=false

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19793[/ATTACH]

[bmajazz]

I was thrilled to see AAA 10 yr in Birdman. I mean, right on the stage during the play, and Michael Keaton's character poured himself a nice glass of it. Of course, there was ice involved... but it beats the gin option they showed, and they didn't even mention whiskey or bourbon! Kind of cool because you had to know what you were seeing. It looked like a big bottle, perhaps a liter? Looked like glass, no handle I could see.

[Paddy]

I was thrilled to see AAA 10 yr in Birdman. I mean, right on the stage during the play, and Michael Keaton's character poured himself a nice glass of it. Of course, there was ice involved... but it beats the gin option they showed, and they didn't even mention whiskey or bourbon! Kind of cool because you had to know what you were seeing. It looked like a big bottle, perhaps a liter? Looked like glass, no handle I could see.

Most likely a 1.75 plastic if it was in the original container.

[Tony Santana]

My wife and daughter were watching some awful looking movie called "That Awkward Moment" and I caught about 10 minutes of it before coming to my senses and realizing I had better things to do with my life. But there's a scene where two of the main characters are sitting on a couch and commiserating with each other over their love lives. They pass a carton of Ben and Jerry's and a bottle of Bulleit Rye back and forth. Just swigging directly from the bottle.

[Harry in WashDC]

Mae West and Cary Grant star in "She Done Him Wrong" (1933), the movie in which she says, "Why doncha come up and see me?" (which often is misquoted as "Come up and see me sometime."). Anyway, about a half hour in, some guy in the saloon is on stage singing "Silver Threads Among the Gold." Behind him on the curtain is an advertisement for "Old Taylor 10 year whiskey".

[mosugoji64]

In the new Bill Murray flick, St. Vincent, a bottle of Blanton's can be seen on one of his shelves and he pours himself a glass of BT.

[dcbt]

This might have been mentioned already but I didn't see in after a quick search. In Gone Girl, they pour some Blanton's. Buffalo Trace seems to use a lot of this product placement in movies and shows.

[kjbeggs]

My wife and daughter were watching some awful looking movie called "That Awkward Moment" and I caught about 10 minutes of it before coming to my senses and realizing I had better things to do with my life. But there's a scene where two of the main characters are sitting on a couch and commiserating with each other over their love lives. They pass a carton of Ben and Jerry's and a bottle of Bulleit Rye back and forth. Just swigging directly from the bottle.

I watched this with the wife. That bottle of Bulleit Rye makes two or three appearances, and gets called "scotch" at least once. One more reason I was banging my forehead on the coffee table while watching.

[corpse_welder]

In Horrible Bosses 2, the business owner walks to his office desk, where we see the back of Larceny and Jack Daniels Single Barrel. He pours himself a glass of Hudson Baby Bourbon, of which the label is also not shown

[Lepisto]

Not sure if it has been posted yet, I didn't want to go through 78 pages to find out, and the search didn't yield anything. But, I was watching Back to the Future II over the holidays. Since it is 2015 and part of the movie, the series was playing on cable a lot around New Years. Anyway when Lorraine, Marty and Biff are in Biffs penthouse, Lorraine walks over to a bar and pours herself a drink. On the bar are a lot of bottles of various liquor and tucked behind one of the bottles looks to be a bottle of Old Crow.