Brett Ratner is a divisive figure inside and outside of Hollywood. He’s had his lows and has seemingly spent the last few years producing stellar movies while donating money to climb out of various PR ditches.
Through it all, one thing remains certain: The dude knows how to party. In LA, Ratner is famous for old-style Hollywood bashes at his infamous home, Hilhaven Lodge. The house was built in the 1920s as a Hollywood elite escape — making it basically a proto-Playboy Mansion. Now, in order to honor that historic locale, the famed producer–director-(kinda)actor has launched his very own American whiskey called, The Hilhaven Lodge.
Don’t roll your eyes just yet. Hilhaven Lodge is an American Whiskey that blends some seriously heaving hitting brown spirits. Ratner teamed up with alcohol giant Diageo to bottle a whiskey that they think lives up the Hilhaven Lodge mystique. According to Ratner he wanted to “create a living, breathing embodiment of what that house is — and put it in this bottle.” Each bottle of The Hilhaven Lodge is “composed of a rye, at least 26 years old, a minimum 15-year-old Tennessee whiskey, and a six-year bourbon.” We have to admit, that sounds like a stellar blend.
The rye is reported to be from Indiana where the vast majority of American whiskey comes from. It’s also worth noting that there’s nothing wrong with a nice blend — three out of every four bottles of Scotch sold on the open market is blended. Even Jameson is a blended whiskey. Basically if the label doesn’t say ‘single malt’ or ‘single barrel’ or ‘single cask’ it is almost certainly a blend. And unless you’re a whiskey aficionado with a well-developed palate, the high end single cask whiskeys can be hard to get into. Whereas blends offer a broad entry point to the spirit.
They’re easier to drink — hence their popularity.
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That fits with the Rush Hour director. He loves being popular and doesn’t mince words as to why he chose to champion a blended whiskey. He wants the widest fan base possible for this drink. Ratner used his film career as his example of populism and stated that his “movies tend to be more audience-pleasing and mainstream. Why? Because my taste is more commercial.” Ratner continued, “That’s just an expression of me — it’s just like, Hilhaven, that’s me in a bottle.”
There is certainly always room for a good bottle of whiskey on your shelf… whether America is ready for Brett Ratner in a bottle is another question entirely.
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(Via Men’s Journal)
