If you’ve ever watched a film and adopted the lead character’s traits as your own for the following six months, you are not alone. (Someone in the Esquire team has a gold souvenir jacket tucked away at the back of their wardrobe, thanks to Drive.) But if you’d rather not change your personal style or permanently alter your speech pattern, à la Austin Butler, there is a simpler way to pay homage to your favourite flick: cocktails.
Libations have been a part of big-screen moments since motion pictures began — and have become the trademarks of some of cinema’s most legendary characters. Think the legion of James Bonds and their Martinis, Marilyn Monroe’s Sugar Kane sipping a Manhattan in Some Like It Hot, Johnny Depp’s Raoul Duke and his Singapore Slings with accompanying shot of mezcal in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. The list is endless, and there’s something to satiate everyone’s taste buds.
So, with a little help from our friends at Woodford Reserve — the premium bourbon that boasts more than 200 flavour notes — we’ve recreated (and tweaked) a few of our favourites in order that you can savour a piece of cinema all year round.
Milk isn’t usually a go-to mixer when it comes to cocktails, but there is a time and a place for the comforting combination of dairy and booze (by a roaring fire, not the beach… never the beach). The Dude knew this, which is why a White Russian was his cocktail of choice, and one he enjoyed while wearing a cosy dressing gown and shawl cardigan.
We’re substituting traditional vodka for bourbon here. The result is a festive feel — reminiscent of eggnog — which pairs perfectly with the coffee liqueur. The Dude abides, we abide, and you will definitely abide.
A simple but delicious concoction, a whisky and soda was arguably the most popular drink of the prohibition era. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jay Gatsby drank this in a speakeasy located below a New York City barber shop full of gangsters, politicians and flapper girls, with Jay-Z’s “100$ Bill” soundtracking the illicit gathering (jaunty ragtime simply wouldn’t have encapsulated the debauchery). Thankfully, you can now enjoy this timeless tipple at any decent bar without fear of getting thrown in the drunk tank but, sadly, you’re more likely to see patrons wearing V-neck T-shirts as opposed to three-piece suits.
An Old Fashioned is the crème de la crème of bourbon-based cocktails, originating in the late 19th century in the spiritual home of the spirit: Kentucky. While its name suggests that we might attribute the historical tipple to a grainy black-and-white film riddled with sound issues and misogyny, it’s actually a 21st-century romcom that gets the drink right.
When Ryan Gosling’s Jacob brings Emma Stone’s Hannah back to his mojo dojo casa house, he beautifully crafts an Old Fashioned. And you see the dedication go into the drink: the bitters falling onto a sugar cube, then being smashed with a pestle; the perfect serve of whisky poured, and ice added, before a squeeze of the orange peel releases its fragrance. One word: sublime.
Rick’s Café Americain has to be one of the most iconic bars in movie history, so it’s no wonder it serves up the most notable champagne cocktail of all time. The French 75 is a decadent drink named after the French army’s 75mm field gun, used in WWI, but, whereas a French 75 opts for gin, we prefer to go for bourbon for a more sophisticated finish that juxtaposes the sweet of the champagne with the sour of the lemon juice (this is often referred to as a French 95). Here’s looking at you, Kid.
Whether it’s to mix an Old Fashioned or to simply enjoy neat in a crystal tumbler, try Woodford Reserve, the world’s finest bourbon, for yourself.
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