My Favorite Movie with Graham McTavish, McTavish Spirits

0:00 Hey everyone. Before we get into today's episode, I just want to remind you that we have a ton of extra content over on our Patreon. We do movie watch parties, special Patreon bonus episodes, and all other sorts of wacky stuff that you can access easily. If you head on over to patreon.com/film Whiskey on today's episode, we will be doing our very first interview with a real live actor. Yeah, and not only any actor, Brad, but Graham Mctavish, A beloved character actor who has a new line out called Mctavish Spirits. We'll also be trying that right now and telling you what we think of this seven-year bottled and Bond bourbon this is.

0:42 The Film and Whiskey podcast. Hey everybody, Welcome into the Film and Whiskey Podcast. I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad G. And we're coming at you with a very special bonus episode, bonus episode. Couple weeks ago we were contacted by my friend Connor from over at the Bourbon with Friends podcast and he says. We've been working on a secret project.

1:24 It's a celebrity whiskey, and I can tell you more about it if you sign an NDA. And I said, I'm sorry, what now? And then what? Was this your first NDA? In the whiskey world, it was, yeah. Oh, you signed them outside the whiskey? World I I have, yeah. But I can't disclose. No, That's what it's for, man. Come on. But can you talk about like the industry or like, like I want to hear something? About it was just for work. Like it wasn't anything, you know, exciting. Dang it, Bob. I'm trying to get you sued. Work with me here. I know, right? Well, maybe I should divulge some more industry secrets about bourbon and we'll get ourselves there, Brad. But anyway, all this to say, signed an NDA, learned about this project that our friends over there at Bourbon With Friends have been working on with the actor Graham Mctavish.

2:11 Now you may know Graham Mctavish if you have watched the show Outlander. Or if you have watched the show Preacher. Or if you watched The Hobbit films. This guy has been in so many things. I called my dad the other day and I was like, hey, did you watch Outlander? He was like, yeah. And I told him about interviewing Graham Mctavish and he's like this guy's big time, man. What'd you guys do to get this? So first thing I have to say is thank you so much to bourbon with friends for kind of setting this all up for us. But what they did was they and Graham. Basically launched this new brand called Mctavish Spirits that Graham is very passionate about and they've just come out with their first release under the Mctavish Spirits line.

2:54 It is a seven-year bottled and bond bourbon that they handpicked. We they sent us samples of it and they also set up an interview with Graham and you will hear that interview at the back half of this episode. But Brad, I have been rambling for far too long, and I want to know what your thoughts are before we dive into this whiskey. I think it's kind of ridiculous that you didn't mention probably one of his most famous shows, the wildly popular Netflix, The Witcher, The. Witcher The man fought Henry Cavill. OK, yes, that's that's I'm saying the man who reloads his fists like they're guns. Oh man, I really can't wait for you guys to hear this interview with Graham.

3:35 Brad was unable to join us for that interview. So you will hear me ramble on and on even longer in the back half of this episode. So let's get as much Brad in here as we can while we've got him. Brad, we've got this whiskey in front of us. I know that you have not tried it yet. I had a chance to sample it when I was talking with Graham. I want to hear your initial impressions as we're just getting into the nose here. Yeah, I was going to say I have only smelt it thus far and this is a really beautiful whiskey bomb. Like, I feel like 6 to 9 years is such an incredible range for bourbon because you have all of the depth and flavor that you need from the barrel and you don't. It's not overly out right?

4:21 Like in general for for people who are new to whiskey, a lot of the flavor, pretty much all of the flavor of whiskey comes from the process of the the whiskey interacting with the chemicals of the the wood itself. And when you when you make bourbon, it has to be a new oak barrels and because of that if you leave it in for too long, it gets really oaky. And I think that what I'm smelling here from from a boy, Graham Mctavish, smells like it's the perfect age statement. Yeah, it's seven years old. The mash bill is 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. So there's no wheat in this.

5:02 And I will say on the nose, I don't know that you could trick me into thinking this was a weeded bourbon, but it has the sort of gentleness on the nose that I've come to associate with weeded bourbon, Matt. I by that I don't mean that it is lacking in aroma at all. But with weeded bourbon, Brad, you and I kind of get this effervescence sometimes that reminds us of drinking like a cocacola. We usually get cherry, so I think a lot of times we talk about Cherry Coke when we're nosing these. I don't know that I quite get cherry, but I get the sort of gentle brightness that I normally get on a weeded bourbon. And this is high rye and the rye is not smacking you in the face it it has a little bit of like.

5:43 I don't know citrusy fruit character to me, but it's not aggressive at all. I'm so impressed with the kind of really nice delicate floral notes that the oak is bringing out here. I would never have pegged this as being a high rye bourbon. Yeah, I I think it gets a little bit minty for me. And that's like the little hint that it's rye. But usually with something 20% or higher on rye, you're you're getting some of those specifically rye notes here, it's just gets a little bit minty. I think that it has like a caramel drizzle nose that you just got a hint of caramel. And yeah, it's it's floral, it's bright, there's almost like a marmalade, jam type of smell to it.

6:28 I I'm a big fan, Bob, and I can't wait to drink it. Well, let's get into it, man. Let's take a sip. Oh yeah, dude, That is like vanilla and butterscotch. And then it moves into a little bit of a black pepper. The rye comes through just a little bit at the end. I'd almost call it more of a finish, but man, there is complexity here. The oakiness holds off for long enough to get to allow you to experience the complexity, and then it hits you right at the end with those rye spices with a little bit of that, that pepperiness.

7:09 Bob, this is a delicious whiskey. So you guys will hear this in my interview with Graham here in a couple minutes. But I kind of asked him to answer the obvious question, which is why is a Scotsman picking bourbon? Why are you not releasing a Scotch? Right? And he talked about his introduction to bourbon about 20 years ago, and that the second he took a sip, he realized he preferred bourbon to Scotch. And it's because of the sweetness of bourbon. And as soon as I heard him say that, I was like, You guys are like best friends. I'm in good hands now and I hadn't tried the product yet. It has that sort of not quite syrupy sweetness, but vanilla is a good a good note on this Brad, I know vanilla is an obvious one for bourbon, but there's a creaminess to this that you don't normally get, especially on high rye bourbons.

7:54 Those ones tend to be not necessarily harsh, but I think a word that I use a lot is prickly. Like the rye definitely makes itself known, and here it's almost like a vanilla custard or something that I'm getting. And it's underscored by that mintiness that you were talking about. But it hangs out in that almost weeded bourbon like playing field that I love so much. It is an incredibly easy sipper at 100 Proof, and I think that what I'm most impressed about is like how cohesive this whole thing is. You know what I mean? Like there's not there's not a ton of tasting notes that are popping out to me. Throughout the experience because it just tastes like from nose to taste to finish, it's all of a piece. Yeah, no, 100%, man.

8:40 This is like a decently complex, beautiful, sweet experience with just enough spiciness to make you go, man, I like, I want to experience more of this. And if they're, you know, if they're picking barrels and they're always this good, Bob, the Mctavish line is going to be incredible for years to come. All right, Brad, you know what? Let's put our money where our mouth is here. Sometimes we get sent samples of stuff and we're like, yeah, it's good. But especially on bonus episodes, we don't usually put it through our rigorous scoring technique. I think we should score this one because I I like this enough that I'm not only going to recommend it, but I want you to hear the score that I would give this.

9:21 I think I would give that. Well, let me pull a boat calculator. Yeah. While you're doing that, Bob, I think that I would say the nose is beautiful, but doesn't fully represent what you're about to get into. I'd probably give it like a 7 1/2 out of 10 on the nose. Where where are you at? I'm going to give it an 8 on the nose. I'm with you. I think that of the three big things that we're going to score here, nose, taste, finish, the nose is the one that it hints at like, oh, this is going to be nice. It's it's kind of playfully sweet. There's not a ton going on complexity wise. And I wasn't prepared for how decadent and delicious it was going to be on the pallet.

10:01 Yeah. Yeah. And that's. And that's where, you know, I'll go to the pallet next. I'll give it an 8 1/2 there, man. Like, this is just a really, really nice, easy to drink bourbon. That whether you're new to the world of bourbon or you are an accomplished drinker like you and I are, Bob, this has a lot to offer, man. Yeah, I'm going to give it a nine on the taste. I'm also going to give it a nine on the finish. I and I will say upfront, this is right up my alley. Like this whiskey could have been branded. Graham Mctavish is Bob Book Whiskey and I I would have signed off on it. I would have bought every bottle and I would have been happy about it. But from the taste to the finish, it is just exactly what I want out of 100 proof whiskey.

10:46 And that means that I'm balanced, Brad. I think that I'm going to give it. I'll give it an 8 1/2 on balance. I kind of want to give it a nine there too, but the nose is just a hair under the taste and finish for me. So I'll give it an 8.5 there. Yeah, I'll, I'll give it an 8 out of 10 on balance. And I I'm curious about value, Bob, how much is this going to be sold for? So this is kind of a premium bottle. It looks like it's selling on the website for $75.00. Now I will say it is There's one run of this. And then it's going to be, you know, it's it's it's batched, right. So it's not like you're going to have Mctavish Spirits this particular release forever like they're going to sell out of it and they're going to do the next release to my knowledge. And I think $75 is right in that perfect price point where it's not quite as expensive as something like Bardstown Bourbon Company or Barrel, which we always endorse on here, but it's a rare whiskey.

11:41 That has a name attached to it that, like if you have a fan of The Witcher or Outlander or The Hobbit in your life, this is like, this screams Christmas present, right? Yeah, 100%. And you also have not said the name of this whiskey, Bob. It's called the War Chief. You know what? I just it's my nickname. And so I just glossed right past it. I just gotcha, gotcha. It's like the War Chief book, like you're an 80s basketball superstar. Like, I'm like one of the guys in the original Predator. That doesn't make it to the end like me and Jesse Ventura. Oh man. All right, listen, so I am going to give it an 8 out of 10 on value.

12:26 I think it is like. If it didn't have Graham Mctavish attached to it, I would still say this is like a $65 bottle of whiskey. The fact that it is in limited supply and you have the endorsement of Graham Mctavish behind it, I think $75 is not at all overpriced for this. Yeah, I I think that's a decent value. I'm with you. I think this is about a $60.00 bottle of whiskey, but I'll give it a 7 out of 10 on value here, Bob. That is bringing me out to a 39 out of 50. Brad, I'm at a 42.5 out of 50. This is well above that 40 mark where we start calling a whiskey. Great for me. Like, listen man, we get a lot of stuff sent to us to try on bonus episodes. This is one of the best things I've been sent in, like at least a year.

13:13 It's really, really good. No 100%, man. This is a phenomenal whiskey that I honestly can't say you get many of these by famous people. We we've tried a few, you know, endorsed by famous folk brands that have not been great and this is not one of them. This is absolutely amazing, Bob. All right, well, let's get to this interview with Graham Mctavish. Brad, I'm so excited for you to hear what we talked about. He was really familiar with you and he particularly said, I hate that guy and all his movie opinions. So yeah, well, let's get to it. All right, everyone.

14:02 I am joined by the man himself, Graham Mctavish. Graham, thanks so much for joining us on film and whiskey today. Absolute pleasure. Delighted to be here, yeah. Now listen, I have a lot of questions for you, so I hope you're ready to get inundated here. I'm ready with my answers. I don't know if we've ever had a guest who is so well versed in both film and whiskey. You, you're the resident expert. Just by virtue of being here, you've already taken the crown. Well, that's right. I just stormed the castle and I'm in occupation. Yes. No, I I'm well, I'm glad to hear it. I'm glad to hear it. Thank you. I was reading an article today, you know, kind of going over your filmography and it went all the way back to I guess what we could call your big break which was a play that you Co wrote a 2 hander about Vincent van Gogh and.

14:54 And I really love the article placed an emphasis on just how much promotion you had to do to kind of get your name out there with that play. And I have seen a pattern throughout your career that you are just such a generous guy with your time in terms of being willing to give interviews, being willing to go on podcasts. And there's a lot of actors that really value their personal time and don't like giving interviews. Where do you find the energy to be out here doing this so much? Well, I mean there's there's two parts to my answer. I would say the first one is just, you know, when it comes to projects that I've been in like you know, films or TV, you know, recently with anything that I've been in, you know, when I was in Outlander.

15:49 When I did The Hobbit, all of those things, you have a professional obligation to promote the things that you're in and be sure that's part of your job. And I take that I I very much come from a generation who takes that seriously. You know that you're you. You have a professional obligation to people that are relying on you to fulfill a role. And and also that the the people that are going to see those films or television or whatever it is, that you have an obligation to them. I feel a responsibility, particularly the kind of things that I've done recently, which all weirdly seem to be somehow connected with existing books.

16:33 So, Outlander, The Hobbit, The Witcher, House of the Dragon. Preacher. Yeah, I mean, there's there's just been so many that have had this kind of literary background with an existing fan base. And when you have a huge fan base for things, you you have an obligation to to treat those people seriously and absolutely actually talk about, talk about it in a somewhat intelligible way. But then there's the stuff that. You know, not to say that I didn't believe in those projects because I did and I was very, very much enjoyed doing them. But then there are things that you have a real passionate involvement in, a personal passionate involvement in. So that would go back to the Van Gogh show or Van Gogh as you say.

17:22 Yeah. Thank you. No, no, Ben Hoch, as they say in Holland. But yeah, you know, so going right back to that. I produced that. I wrote it, Co wrote it with my friend Nick Pace and we told that all over the world actually when I did, when I did Clan Lands with Sam, that was something I really really, really believed in and and and really wanted to promote. Same with when when I've done Men in Kilts, I've really wanted to push myself into. Talking about them and the same with this, these are things that I I it's not like I've done loads of this sort of stuff in my career. You know, I I work hard when I'm doing the job that I'm doing. I take it seriously and I put everything into it. But then there are the things that have sort of dotted my career, which are they've sort of sometimes come by accident. The Van Gogh show being a perfect example, actually. We were looking for a two man show we'd done Edward Albee's The Zoo Story.

18:34 We'd done it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It had gone well. We liked working with each other and we were looking for another two man show. We couldn't find one. We really tried hard. We couldn't find one and it needed to be around an Hourish longish hour and a half and we couldn't find one and we bumped into a lady. My friend worked at the National Gallery in London. Nick worked there. We bumped into a lady in Covent Garden Market and she said, oh, where are you going? And you know, ask asking what we were doing. And I said we're trying to find a play. And she said, oh, well, I saw a play by a Dutch actor 10 years ago, which would have then been in the 70s, a one man show about Vincent van Gogh and the letters that he wrote to his brother Thea.

19:17 That was amazing. And and this is the this is the strange thing. And I, and I think this has been a feature of many of the things that I would call forks in the road in my life. On any other day, I can assure you that Nick and I would have just gone to the pub and gone. That's really interesting. And then just had five pints and forgotten all about it, all resolved, said, Oh yeah, we'll do something about that. But instead we went straight to a bookshop. It was like I was sort of compelled and I went straight to the bookshop and immediately found the book. It was like it was waiting, the letters of Vincent van Gogh and I picked it, picked it up on the bookshelf, bought it, took it home. Read it from cover to cover and immediately, because I knew only the basics of that. Back off at that point.

20:03 And I immediately thought, this is an amazing story, this relationship we have with this brother. So I wrote the play, Nick helped me shape it into a a form that we could actually take to the National Gallery. And then on it, on it went. And we did. We we really threw ourselves into publicity because we really believed in it and it was the same. So what I did Long Day's Journey into tonight which was a Eugene O'Neill play that I helped produce in Scotland. Same with clan land same with many kilts And now with this. So I I yes, it's a bit of a compulsion. Strange thing. It's it's almost something I don't really have control over that if I was doing this, for instance, if I was, if I was promoting a a whiskey brand that someone had paid me to endorse or things like that, it just wouldn't be the same. Yeah, I wouldn't feel that that that urge, that desire to talk and that's something I really, really believed in. But but it's different with this because there's been a there's been a journey that's brought me to this point and and that's something I want to to share.

21:15 But also to to see this as the not the beginning of a journey exactly. But this is the early stages of something that I'm really committed to long term. Absolutely. So I don't want this to be for instance, the only the only whiskey that I bring out. You know we have plans for the future with with bourbons and it's something that I've just got really into and and and want to you know these I feel like I'm in the foothills that the the the small foothills of something and I think people I've spoken to about bourbon, you know bourbon is a mountain that you can never get to the top of it's it's just just when you think you're at the top that is.

22:01 For sure there's a massive peak in front of me, so. I will say take it take it from a guy who's reviewed about 500 bourbons on this this podcast already there is there is no peak it is very much pushing the rock up the hill and never getting to the top kind of a thing exactly. So you know, I I hear again I hear a pattern emerging here which is you really truly have the actors spirit about how you approach everything that you work on and. You know, I was listening to a great interview with Tom Hanks and someone had asked him to name his three favorite of his own films, and his answer was essentially, I can't tell you the three best movies I worked on.

22:43 I can only tell you the three best experiences I had on set, because as an actor it is so hard to divorce the actual process of the work from the final product. Very true. And I'm just wondering if you can, Yeah, Can you comment on that a little bit? When you go to a premiere and you just see the film, are you able to watch it in a vacuum, or is it impossible to divorce from the work you put in? No, it's impossible. In fact, it's one of the reasons that a lot of actors, myself included, don't watch the things that they've been in. The reason? Because I mean, not that I have it. I've look for Outlander, for instance. I mean, this is a terrible confession that Outlander fans will be shocked by, but I've only seen two episodes of Outlander of the Premier that I went to in San Diego, because same with The Hobbit.

23:33 I've seen the premiers of The Hobbit, I watched The Hobbit with my kids. Same with, you know, everything, Preacher, The Witcher, everything. I the exception would be men in kilts because I'm an executive producer on that and it's something we created. So we've seen everything. We have to watch everything but everything else. It's a combination of crippling embarrassment because you, you know, I think people, people sort of have a misconception about actors or certainly some actors that they're just like big show offs, you know, that they just love, you know, just having people looking at them and all the rest of it. And there's something that may be partly true, I'm not entirely sure, but there's something else going on with with acting. But what I can tell you is you you don't like watching yourself doing it because the stage, of course it's perfect because on stage these moments are gone forever. You, you know, nobody's recording them well. Sure, sure.

24:41 It shouldn't be. And you know when you when you do stage work, you're you're just there in that in that moment. And I think what Tom Hanks is talking about is, is sort of a bit like that, that when you're doing it, what you remember about these projects is the experience of doing it, not necessarily the end result. And partly because you, you have no control over the end result in film and television, really, you're part of something much bigger. And so you take the moment that you have on set and then you kind of have to forget about it. Yeah. But yeah, I think he's right. You know, my experiences, I mean, certainly, I mean I can think of obviously Outlander The Hobbit was definitely one.

25:30 You know, the the, the moment. I think, I mean there were still were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of moments on The Hobbit trilogy. But the first moment when I oh, it's a helicopter, The first moment when I was the first wolf to arrive at Bag End, right. And when you stood in front of the set of Bag End there it was fully constructed, It was this existing building and there was the green door and I was in costume. They came and they did all the the final checks. They made sure I looked good. And all the rest of it. I knew what I was doing and I just had to on action. I just had to knock on the door and and then the door opened and that was this sort of signifying moment for me at the beginning of something that I have no idea what it was going to be like, so I've never forgotten it.

26:26 Same with Rambo. When I did Rambo with Stallone being on set with him, that his sort of really open approach to improvisation, which I was really surprised by. And just being when you're doing improvisation, you really have to be super aware of what's going on around you. Yeah, listening to what people are saying, because bad improvisation is when people don't listen. It's it's like bad conversation, you know? It's like, I don't care what you're going to say, I'm just going to say what I want anyway. You know, part of the problem that we have in the world at the moment, people don't listen.

27:08 But but yeah, on on Rambo there were moments, like out of body experiences where I became suddenly aware. It was like a third eye was watching me saying you are talking to Rambo, right? And and I my, my brain couldn't quite process it. It was as if I'd stepped inside the screen, like in, you know, the last action hero when he comes out. Yeah, yeah, right. It's it's like, what? What? And he's talking to me, right? He's talking back. You, you become aware of your own fandom in a sense, right? Yeah. Well, yes, it's you bring with you your history as a as a film fan.

27:53 Yeah, you know, a fan. I mean my case a fan of Brando. You know a fan of Still Best to Stallone. I grew up watching those films and you know it's the same when you you meet anybody, certainly in my career that you know when I met Christopher Lee and people like that, you go, well, it's almost too much to. Take in absolutely. Well, you you've mentioned a few names here and and going through your filmography you have enjoyed the opportunity to work with some major sort of a list Hollywood stars and also some some very major, I guess we could call them a list directors as well. And I'm wondering like from a a set perspective being on there on the day, is there a difference between working on a project that is very star driven versus working on a project where the director is sort of the star of the project? Interesting, Good question.

28:49 You know I've been I've definitely been very lucky that the the sort of starry names that I've worked with I've I've all been actually very generous people you know generous with their time not not ego driven in perhaps the way you might expect actually interested in collaboration and so that has been a real feature for me. I mean there's always exceptions. You know when you when you do things and that there might be somebody who's well known and you, you realize very quickly that okay, they're going to be a bit tricky, tricky and you know they're going to have them on stage as well. But but the thing I've learned about those people is they tend not to last.

29:44 They can be, you know, they can do well up to a point. But then there always comes a point where actually the, the, the, the reality, the truth about them as well. Artists I suppose emerges. And and real artists, people that are interested in creating things together, whether it's on film or television or with whiskey or with a book or whatever, they're they're not. I mean ego is involved because you'd have to have some kind of an ego to even put these things out, right. But right. I'm not. I'm not that modest. But they're that isn't the primary driver.

30:27 It's actually the enjoyment of the experience of making it. You know, like Sylvester Stallone is a very good example. One thing that a lot of these people, the best people that I've worked with, the kind of people that you're talking about, that what they all have in common is that they have a genuine childlike enthusiasm for what they're doing. They are children. Peter Jackson, I mean, Sylvester Stallone, I mean he's he's a very scary child. But he's he's you know, and I'm a child too in that sense. And you have to be in touch with that part of yourself. The the the children have enormous enthusiasm for things.

31:11 The things that adults don't really understand. You know, you can you watch a child get involved in something and you're sort of like, what are they saying there? I don't get it for the child. It's everything. And and that's the thing that that artists or people involved in this sort of industry or whatever creation that they want to be involved in that they have that in common. How much of that willingness to collaborate comes from experience, though? You know, I I look at your filmography and especially like your most recent projects. Like to your point, they've all been based on books, but they're all also sort of in the fantasy genre in in some ways. And I wonder, like as a young actor, would you have felt more insecure or maybe felt like you're pigeonholing yourself more than you do now? I I think there there seems to be. With these established actors and directors the ego sort of falls away after a while and you become more comfortable, you know, with that collaborative nature and and less concerned with the you know the sort of insecure how you're perceived as you go along.

32:18 Yeah, it's, I don't know, it's interesting. I I think there's a little bit of, you know, the law of mutual attraction going on that stuff. Because something that I learned about myself and I've accepted is that my love and my real passion when it came to acting wasn't necessarily Shakespeare, although I've done a lot of it over the years in theater. It it was always this this little little sort of thing on my shoulder that was that was saying, yeah, but what about what about film? What about TV? What about what about action? What about fighting?

32:59 What about all the things that you what about swords? You know what don't we do a bit more of that And so I don't think you know if if if people are destined to take certain paths or be open to them anyway. I I don't think my path was destined to be a lawyer in a TV show or you know a doctor at a hospital or you know the the the the the psychiatrist or you know the things that I I mean I'm not saying I wouldn't want to do those things but I I love the genre the the fantasy and I have sort of found myself getting more involved in that.

33:41 I I wanted to be a a Roman and I did 2 Roman series back-to-back. I wanted to be in a kind of Monty Python movie and I was in Eric the Viking with Terry Jones and John Cleese. There was that I wanted to be a cowboy and I got to do that in Preacher. So there are things that I've always really, really, really wanted to do, and perhaps that that level of desire just gives you that edge when you are, when you're really going after it, you know? And I've always wanted to be in an action movie like Randa, So yeah. In looking through your TV credits, I think that you have, I don't know if it's unwittingly or or with full knowledge. You've been involved in some really groundbreaking television shows, and now in particular, you know you did at least a couple episodes, I think of the Ali G show when that first came out.

34:41 And you were also involved in 24, which is a show especially in America. You know, I think we give a lot of credit to the sort of the Bourne Identity movies for introducing the sort of real grounded, the Paul Greengrass shaky Cam kind of thing. I think 24 actually may have even preceded the first Bourne movie. And and it's just, it's really interesting to me. Are you aware when you're working on these sort of groundbreaking projects, whether it's in comedy or action, do you know that they're brewing something that hasn't been seen before? Not entirely. I mean with with 24, I was a huge fan and and that's actually been another feature of things that I've been involved in.

35:30 You know, I was a fan of Lord of the Rings and I got to be in The Hobbit. I was a fan of 24. I was a fan of Prison Break. I was a fan of the Preacher graphic novels. And so I was a fan of Monty Python. So the being invited to be part of those things was just so exciting. Yeah, I was a fan of Rambo. Yeah. You know so I I but 24 I mean very groundbreaking. I mean the split screen absolutely real time stuff. I mean I never, I'll never forget the first pilot episode of the first season of 24 and at the end you know, you watch you know and that they're Hostess and that thing and the guy, you know blowing up the plane, jumping out and you're just.

36:12 Right, right. What? Yeah. And and and it really, I think, marked truly addictive television. You know, you you have to keep watching. You have to keep, you know, and I mean, there were, there's always been popular shows, but the television has come through many iterations over the years. You know, it's gone away from the everybody watching the same show on a Friday night, you know, 10s of millions of people tuning in because there's only like 4 channels or whatever to multiple choices. And those shows having to having to hold on to you.

36:55 You know, you want you want to see the the season finale of Succession. You know you want to, you want to see what happens after they've cut Sean Bean's head off at the beginning of the season. One of the greater Thrones, those moments where you go, bloody hell, I wasn't expecting to happen. So, yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm a fan of all of that stuff. And so when I'm in it, when I'm, when I, when I'm a part of it, I mean I I I love, I mean, you know, well, I can't talk about that, that particular one. But there are things that I've, I've done where I've as I've been doing them, looking forward to what people will think of it.

37:39 This is going to be. They're going to love this. All right, before we get off of movies, we are titling this episode. It's part of our series that we call my favorite Movie. And so you know it is. It is such an obvious question to ask you. But if you had to pinpoint one film that you just, you could never get rid of, if if forced to at gunpoint, what what would you consider your favorite film? OK. It's it's not perhaps, I'm not sure how many Americans have seen it because it pertains very much to a particular point in British history. And it also marks, I think one of the last great epic British war films, I suppose you call it, which is Zulu. Oh yeah, which I have seen at least 10 times. And it's it's just a perfect film and and also the story behind the making of it that that there's a perfect, I mean Stanley Baker who who was one of the stars in it, Michael Caine's first movie.

38:45 Stanley Baker, it was his passion project. So I really identify with that as well that he he moved heaven and earth to get that film made. You know, and I'm trying to do the same with a couple of movies myself that I'm trying to produce and and work on and you know, the sense of achievement he must have had doing that and and the fantastic end result it's it's it's just such an incredible story of mutual heroism both from the Zulus and from the 24th Regiment afoot at Rocks Drift. It's it's an incredible true story and it's filmed brilliantly and yeah, music, everything about it. I just love Zulu.

39:28 I think you're absolutely right though. There's almost a sub genre of sort of late 60s, early 70s epic films, especially in Britain that I feel like. Really got passed over by the general public or or, you know, I think about John Houston's The Man Who Would Be King. I think about some of the later David Lean films. It's just really interesting that tastes had changed, I guess. But when you go back and rediscover some of these movies, it's not like they were forgotten because they lacked quality. In fact that, you know, they're the scale of these. You're absolutely right. They just don't do it like that anymore. No. And and what's interesting about a film like Zulu is that although it opens in the aftermath of Islana, the big massacre of the British troops, you don't see the battle.

40:15 You know, you see some people walking around, you know some dead bodies and stuff like that. And you have Richard Burton's voice over coming in. But if that film was made now, it would have to have a big battle at the beginning. They would have to have real action right from the get go. There would have to be something to catch the audience. Whereas this begins in this really gentle way. You know men in a river building a bridge. You know a bit of comedy bit of this going on and and the slow build, the inexorable. You know that something's coming, something not great is coming and they're going to find out, but you're going to find out with them.

41:00 And so that the audience are together with the characters. The the audience haven't got a they haven't got an advantage or they haven't got a they haven't been previewed with something. They they are with them. And that's something that I think film to some degree has lost that that the need to grab people's attention. Now the short The shortness of people's attention span won't allow them to let films unfold in the way that perhaps something like Zulu did. Sure. Are there any films or actors in particular now now that you've been in the business as long as you have, that you've developed an appreciation for that you may not have had before you got into the business?

41:45 Oh gosh, yeah. That's a great question. I was just talking with somebody that this week about Matt Damon as an A list star and how Damon. Is is such a subtle actor, but he is, he's so uninterested it seems in big showy performances and he's he anchors every I mean he's great. And Oppenheimer, he just, you know he's not trying to upstage anyone in that film. And so I feel like there's once you, once you know what you're looking for and you know what to see from everyone who's supporting, you know, whoever the star of the scene is, quote, UN quote, I just feel like there's so many actors that go unsung. Because they're not trying to steal the spotlight, you know?

42:28 Yeah. Yeah. No, I agree. I mean, you know, I have a great appreciation of of some of that. I like Leonardo DiCaprio as an actor because his range is so great. You know, he really does have, you know, I would. I mean it's not competition, but you know I would place him. I mean Tom Hanks is is great, but I think his real strength is playing that every man character that identified with, which is a great skill. It's not different. It's not easy to do that, but but Leo manages to really cover so much, so much, you know, comedy, action, you know, just just he's done all of that sort of stuff.

43:23 Enjoyed so much as an actor. And and I think the other person that I would from the past that I would compare that to someone like Gene Hackman who I really. You never saw a film with Gene Hackman in it where Gene Hackman did a bad job. Yeah, he he he's done that. And he is exactly that kind of person who is all about making the film great. Yep. The story telling the story. So when you see him in something like Unforgiven, he's he's great in that film that he is a supporting character to Clint Eastwood and and and he plays it, you know to perfection and and those are always the actors that I've wanted to emulate if I can. You know that I've I've always wanted to just be true to the story and play my role.

44:07 So you know, when when I, when I did the first season of House of the Dragon, it was a real departure for me in a lot of ways because although I was carrying a bloody great sword and there were Dragons and all the rest of it going on, I was a very, very morally upright correct individual. I didn't have loads to say, but my role wasn't my. My role meant that he wouldn't be talking all the time. That's not what he would do. He listens, He absorbs, he takes in. He has his own personal opinions, and those are expressed in the end. You see how he feels about these people in the end, But it's his.

44:51 It's his silence, his lack of expression that actually speaks volumes about his character. Same with Preacher. When I did Preacher, which was a sort of echo somewhat of Clint Eastwood's characters in some of the Westerns that he's done. And it was actually written by Garth Dennis as that, as a Clint Eastwood sort of character. Again, he barely speaks, but he's all about that brooding, terrifying silence. Absolutely. And I think that's, you know, I've learned that along the way that, you know, it's as somebody said, it's not that you don't have anything to say, it's you choose not to say it. That's the life lesson from today. Always shoot for brooding, terrifying silence. That's my take away.

45:43 It's carried me through my life. You know, when I go and get a coffee, I don't tell them all I want. I let them guess from. That's it. That's it. I bet you get a lot of free coffee out of that as well. That's right. It works every time. Yeah, it just want me out of the storm. Graham, before we let you go today, I do want to talk about the whiskey. Let's let's dive into this whiskey now, as I said, I've tasted it already. It is absolutely delicious. I think the obvious question that that Americans in particular are going to ask about This is why bourbon? Like why not Scotch? You know, we we would have anticipated that from you. What was it about bourbon that made you want to put your stamp on that? Well, I my experience at bourbon began, gosh, nearly 20 years ago, actually, with an American friend of mine when I moved to America, an actor called Nolan North who's a wonderful voice actor, primarily fabulous, wonderful guy, and he introduced me to bourbon. And the thing about it is that obviously being Scottish, my father you know regularly used to bring Scotch out. We toasted the table.

46:56 He's deeply rooted in you as as somebody from Scotland, from from the UK, that you know that's that's our drink. That's our drink. And and when I tried bourbon, the thing that I noticed almost immediately, well, immediately in fact, was I preferred it and and and it it, it actually pains me to say it a little bit. Because it does feel a little bit like heresy, and that's a disrespect towards Scotch. Because I do like Scotch. There's loads of whiskeys. I love, you know, petey whiskeys. Not so petey, you know Highland Park. Loads of different, different iterations of whiskey that I've really enjoyed. But that first taste that I had with Nolan and I think a lot of people who no Scotch but don't know bourbon kind of just think it's just the kind of an American substitute for Scotch without realizing that it is its own unique spirit. Absolutely.

47:55 When I took that first sip, I thought, Oh yeah no, this is this is different. This is not Scotch. This is something else. And I loved I I I loved the the sweetness to it. I have to be the you know that the slight the the syrupy quality you know as it as it went down your your across your palate and that was was beautiful and but also with the Scotland American thing it's a little bit like my acting career there was a part of me that felt that well I should have been I should be doing Shakespeare. I should be doing this but my love lay elsewhere. My love lay in American movies, TV, action, you know, all of those things, you know, that I was describing earlier and and I consciously made that move as an actor nearly 20 years ago to, to be honest and go, no, this is who I am, you know, this is what I want to be doing. Yeah, I went and I booked rando when I arrived and and that set the pattern for for the career that I've had since then really. And this, this is the same I I knew that I liked bourbon, that I preferred it.

49:14 I didn't ever mention that. And when I finally got together with Connor and and Paul, the people that really started my proper journey with with Bourbon, I understood that this was something, this was something else I wanted to do, that I wanted to devote passion into. And that Scotland, the Scottish connection with America. What what really started to spark my imagination was the the history the the the fact that the Scots and the Irish and the English, let's not forget the English. They came over and they settled in that particular part of the Eastern United States and and brought with them a love of distilling spirit grain. You know they wanted to do they want. They they they knew how to do it. And and the fact that it's tax really Washington is what he did by trying to tax these people that forced them W that made them discover these great limestone you know, iron free waters and all the rest of it that was so perfect for making this particular spirit.

50:24 This wonderful accident happened and I love the the history of accidents in that sense. And and I suppose you know, once I I blended that with my my already growing love of bourbon, my own sort of private confession that I actually preferred it with my love of history, there was only one thing that I could do and that would be to make my own bourbon brand and not make Scotch. Absolutely. It actually meant that that that couldn't be something I could do because it wouldn't be honest. Well, I cannot speak highly enough of the whiskey itself. I, you know, I'm looking forward to all the future releases. But if this were to be the only one, I would still say, you know, stamp of approval and Gold Star, because this is just a phenomenal whiskey that you've chosen. Thank you so much.

51:17 That's that's really love me. I'm so glad that you feel that. Yeah. Means a lot. It really does, because I hate the term sort of celebrity brands. It actually makes me physically wince. But if if if I can, if I can introduce my love of not just bourbon but my belief in this to a wider audience, then that that would be worth it. Having that tied to it, But I I definitely want to emphasize that I'm not here to be the face of something. I'm here to be in it for the long haul. And this is something that I really believe in and I want to, I want to grow and and I want to learn as well in the process of creating it. Well, with our last few minutes here in the interview, I've always found that the best way to endear yourself to your guest is to completely blindside them with the segment that they did not prepare for.

52:15 So in the spirit. In the spirit of that, I'm actually very excited for this. We've done this before with brand ambassadors and master distillers. We took a questionnaire that was popularized in America on the show inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton. He asked a very famous questionnaire in the latter half of each episode and we modified it to call it inside the whiskey studio. This is the first time that I will get to give the questionnaire to. A Hollywood actor I have. I have to I have to warn you, this is going to be. I'm putting you on the spot here. Rapid fire. Are you ready for the film and Whiskey questionnaire?

52:57 OK, right. Yes. What is your favorite word? Subtle. What is your least favorite word control? What sound or noise do you love? Well, this probably the sound of my children's voices. What sound or noise do you hate? So many? The sound? The sound of people talking on their phone with the the.

53:40 Oh yeah, the speaker on in public. What's a profession other than your own that you would like to attempt? Oh, I don't think I'd necessarily be any good at it, but something with my hands, so something like carpentry. Who are your favorite fictional heroes? My favorite fictional heroes? Oh, let me think. Hold on. Well, yeah, probably. Probably a rat mole and badger in the Wind of the Willows. There you go.

54:21 Who's your favorite musician? Led Zeppelin. Oh, nice. Yeah. What is a natural gift or talent that you do not possess that you wish you did the ability to play a musical instrument and 100%? What's your what's your desire there? Drums. Bass. Guitar. Probably, Yeah, probably guitar, yeah. I mean, I'm a Led Zeppelin fan, you know. All right, not to get too morbid here, but these are always great answers. If you had a say in how you died, how would you prefer to go out? Oh, I think probably, suddenly, yeah. Yeah, I've always preferred the old, like Looney Tunes having a piano dropped on me.

55:15 Kind of feeling exactly all right. And finally, this one requires a bit of context. We've had a lot of people suggest pairing their whiskeys with very expensive meats and charcuterie, and that did not necessarily appeal to our ideal listener. And so we always ask this if you had to pair Mctavish spirits with a fast food item. What would it be really difficult A fast food item? I mean, you look like a guy that consumes, you know, copious amounts of fast food. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no. Well, I mean, I'm happy. Sure, a fast food item.

56:02 Now when you say a fast food item, not a branded item, but just to kind of. It could be if it's very particular to A to a brand, that's OK Okay, let me think. It's I'm trying to remember because I lived in New Orleans for two years when I was a preacher. And yeah, they that that that unique sandwich that they have down there. What is it? Oh, a po boy. Yes. Yeah, Okay. That's what I would choose. Man, that sounds amazing right now.

56:42 I'm sipping the whiskey right now and a shrimp po boy sounds pretty incredible. A shrimp PO. Yes, that's the one. Well done. We got there in the end. Yeah, we did. Graham, I cannot thank you enough for joining us today. Thank you for rolling with the punches. Thank you for completing the questionnaire. And most of all, thank you for this whiskey. Oh, my pleasure. Thank you. I'm. I'm delighted that you like it. Thanks for having. Me. Absolutely, folks. We will be back on Tuesday with another regularly scheduled episode, but until then, I Am Bob book and we will see you next time.