Bourbon and the big screen have a long-running history. Whether it’s a background player, relegated to a quick glimpse in a throwaway scene, or a feature star with prominent placement throughout the film, big name bourbons can be found in some of the most beloved movies of the past 100 years.
Look, it’s still pretty common to see alcohol used in stereotypical ways. Need to portray a character’s devil-may-care attitude? Shot of bourbon. Do they need to establish their machismo (or gender non-conformity for women)? A glass of bourbon should do the trick. Is the character spiraling off the rails due to tragic life events? Drink it straight from the bottle!
While these portrayals are regrettably lazy and cast the spirits industry in a negative light, there are a few cinematic auteurs who have used bourbon to reflect good taste or, better still, as just another normal part of life. Indeed, many movies and individual characters celebrate bourbon as a premium drink or one to be savored, rather than shot with total disregard. That said, this list has many predictable tropes featuring lovable scallywags because, hey…anti-heroes deserve a drink, too.
But while many people might think of the uber-cool spy/assassin or the stoic cowboy on the open range as the only archetypes to slug back the good stuff, you’ll see on this list that many different characters over the years have been known to enjoy a pour of bourbon, and they often ask for their favorites by name.
Typically, it’s the major brands getting all the love, meaning Jack Daniel’s, Maker’s Mark, Wild Turkey, and Jim Beam appear regularly over the years (apparently TV characters drink all the high-end bourbon). Still, the wide range of characters and situations when they drink those bottles is worth celebrating.
Enough talk; it’s time for us to rank the most iconic bourbon-drinking movie characters of all time!
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20. Billy Bob Thornton as Willie T. Soke in Bad Santa
The Movie:
Bad Santa, directed by Terry Zwigoff, revolves around the story of Willie T. Soke, the career crook who gets a seasonal job as a mall Santa as a means to rob the mall’s stores blind. Throughout the movie, Willie is portrayed as a reckless character showing little regard for those around him, and his penchant for getting drunk on the job and drinking directly from his ever-present bottle of booze is used as a reflection of that, which is why he ranks so low on this list. Show some more respect for OGD, Willie!
The Whiskey: Old Grand Dad Bonded
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $27
Old Grand Dad Bonded is made using Jim Beam’s high rye recipe, and it’s bottled at an even 100-proof, making it a great whiskey for neat sipping but a dangerous one for drinking straight out of the bottle. Old Grand Dad is also offered at 80-proof and the most heralded bottle in the lineup clocks in at a hefty 114-proof.
19. Justin Timberlake as Ronnie Morgan in Black Snake Moan
The Movie:
Black Snake Moan was a critical and commercial failure, written and directed by Craig Brewer, but it also features one of the best bourbons on this list courtesy of Justin Timberlake’s character, Ronnie Morgan. Ronnie is a soldier who suffers from a severe anxiety disorder, which results in him being discharged from the National Guard. When he’s released, he goes on a journey trying to track down his captive, estranged girlfriend, Rae Doole, played by Christina Ricci. Along the way, he happens to have some Rock Hill Farms bourbon, which a disloyal friend proceeds to drink straight out of the bottle, much to Ronnie’s displeasure.
The Whiskey: Rock Hill Farms
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $380
Rock Hill Farms follows the trend from Buffalo Trace’s mash bill #2, which has almost exclusively been used to produce single-barrel bourbons. Named after the rich farmland along the Kentucky River, this hard-to-find bottle clocks in at 100-proof and has become highly sought-after among enthusiasts as an elevated-ABV alternative to Buffalo Trace’s most famous bottle that uses mash bill #2: Blanton’s.
18. Thomas Jane as Frank Castle in The Punisher (2004)
The Movie:
The Punisher is a film that plucks its story from the Marvel comic of the same name, and it’s centered around the story of undercover FBI agent Frank Castle, who later goes on to dole out vigilante justice as the classic anti-hero “The Punisher.” As you can guess, due to Castle’s double life and dangerous line of work, he takes to drinking one of the best bourbons 2003 (or any year, for that matter) can offer for a respite from the stress: Wild Turkey 101.
The Whiskey: Austin Nichols Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon
ABV: 50.5%
Average Price: $500
Wild Turkey 101 in 2003 wasn’t much different than it is today, with the exception of the fact that there was likely a higher percentage of older whiskey in every bottle, and there’s a chance that Frank Castle’s bottle didn’t have a URL code on the back. That said, Wild Turkey 101 has long been a go-to bottle for society’s heroes and castoffs alike, so the choice was perfect for the troubled Punisher.
17. Kirk Douglas as Jack Burns in Lonely Are The Brave
The Movie:
Jack Burns is a Korean War veteran with a horse named Whiskey and a deep love for the nomadic cowboy lifestyle in 1950s New Mexico. He begins at first by trying to break his friend out of jail, deigning to do so by first getting arrested himself by drinking bourbon at a bar and picking a fight with a one-armed man. Upon his arrest, Burns discovers that his friend has accepted his two-year jail stint, content to follow the rules of society to return to his family, while Burns despises the thought of having his freedom impugned, so he breaks out by himself and leads the police on an epic chase toward Mexico with tragic results.
The Whiskey: Old Charter 7-Year Bourbon (1950s)
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $580
Old Jack Burns would’ve been sipping this discontinued seven-year version of Old Charter Bourbon produced by Schenley in the mid-1950s, a well-regarded 86-proof bourbon in its heyday. Much later, in 1999, the Old Charter brand was acquired by the Sazerac Company, which also owns Buffalo Trace and produces an 80-proof version of this bourbon today.
16. Kurt Russell as “Stuntman” Mike McKay in Death Proof
The Movie:
Death Proof, the 2007 slasher film that was written, directed, co-produced, and shot by Quentin Tarantino, is a heart-racing ride alongside two separate all-female friend groups who find themselves in the murderous crosshairs of “Stuntman” Mike. To put it plainly, Mike is a pretty abhorrent son of a gun, undeserving of the bourbon he brazenly treats his wounds with, but the feature itself is a cool, bare-bones take on the slasher genre.
The Whiskey: Four Roses Bourbon
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $23
Four Roses Yellow Label Bourbon hasn’t always been as stellar as it is today, and in all likelihood, Stuntman Mike was treating his cuts & scrapes with the dregs of the vaunted distillery’s bourbon, but today’s Four Roses Bourbon is really high-quality juice. So much so that we’ve recommended it here many times.
15. Rip Torn as Maury Dann in Payday (1973)
The Movie:
In Payday, Maury Dann, portrayed by the legendary Rip Torn, is a successful Country music performer who has a penchant for getting in fights as well as getting in bed with other men’s girlfriends. While we follow Maury’s exploits across various small-town clubs, we see him bribe a DJ at a local radio station with a bottle of bourbon, namely, Wild Turkey 101.
The Whiskey: Wild Turkey 101 (1972)
ABV: 50.5%
Average Price: $550
While it requires closer inspection, we can surmise that the bottle of Wild Turkey 101 Maury was drinking (and bribing DJs with) was probably produced between 1971-1973 when the film was released. That timeframe was a very interesting one in the history of Wild Turkey because, in 1972, the brand began transitioning its labels to “Lawrenceburg, KY” instead of “New York, NY.” According to multiple reports, 1971 and the J.T.S. Brown Distillery’s purchase by Austin Nichols & Co. marked the last year Wild Turkey officially sourced all of their bourbon. That’s all to say that despite Wild Turkey’s decades-long streak of consistency today, in 1973, it was much less clear what you might expect when picking up a bottle of classic 101. Save for the fact that it was probably damned delicious, no matter what.
14. Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn in Spider-Man (2002)
The Movie:
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and the two films that ended up completing the trilogy stood for years as the modern era’s proof that a superhero franchise could be successful. Of course, 2008’s Iron Man would blow the doors off the genre and usher in the age of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe supremacy, but in 2002, the precocious Spider-Man showcased the kind of grounded storytelling that would soon become absent in a world of high-tech CGI and formulaic, monster-of-the-week style films. Willem Dafoe’s stellar take on the tortured Norman Osborn, however, still ranks highly with critics as one of the best supervillain portrayals in film, so much so that his character was resurrected and served as the most significant foil in Marvel’s most recent Spider-Man film, No Way Home.
The Whiskey: Maker’s Mark
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $30
Have you ever had an evil mask speak to you telepathically and tell you to do bad things? I’m guessing not, but if you’re reading this, then there’s a high likelihood that you’ve had a glass of Maker’s Mark speak to you. With its mellow and approachable flavor profile and ubiquity on liquor store shelves and local bars around the world, it’s a bottle sure to soothe whatever ails you. The only risk of negative thoughts with this bourbon in your glass is the fear that it’ll soon be empty.
13. Denzel Washington as Easy Rawlins in Devil in a Blue Dress
The Movie:
Easy Rawlins, portrayed by Denzel Washington, is a rookie private investigator tasked with locating a woman with significant ties to an upcoming mayoral race in Los Angeles during the summer of 1948. On his journey he finds trouble in all of the most expected places, namely in juke joints, motels, and other underworld haunts. Along the way, naturally, Easy finds himself atop several barstools where he’s served both Kentucky Tavern and, most impressively, Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond Bourbon.
The Whiskey: Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $1,700
Set in the summer of 1948, that means this Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond bottle would have been comprised of juice from the legendary Stitzel-Weller Distillery. There are brands today built on even the most tenuous relationship to that historic sight, so it’s really remarkable to think that in 1948, bottles like this one would’ve lined the bottom shelf and could’ve been purchased for just a few dollars. Today, a bottle of 1940s Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond would cost you about two grand, and having had some recently, I hate to say that I kind of get it.
Heaven Hill produces the modern equivalent, and it hits shelves at a much more moderate price point of $100-$200.
12. Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill in North By Northwest
The Movie:
North By Northwest is an enthralling tale of mistaken identity, espionage, and murder that stars Cary Grant as ad executive Roger Thornhill. Thornhill is thrust into an underworld of obfuscation and competing motives, and along the way, he’s held down by thugs and forced to drink a copious amount of bourbon for the staging of a drunk driving accident. It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of the bourbon industry, but in the digital age, it’s one of social media’s go-to gifs for imbibing. Funny how that works.
The Whiskey: Movie Prop Bourbon
ABV: ??%
Average Price: Not Available For Sale
In an increasingly common move, many films skip the use of real bourbon labels and invent a fake brand for their movie. In one scene, Roger Thornhill is plied with a very real brand, Campari, but immediately after, the “bourbon” he’s poured is from a bottle faintly reminiscent of Four Roses. You can’t believe everything you see on the big screen!
11. Hugh Jackman as Logan in Deadpool and Wolverine
The Movie:
2024’s thrilling Deadpool and Wolverine featured a team-up that comic book fans have long been calling for, and the critical consensus on the film indicates that it was worth the wait. Fans got the unbridled Deadpool film they wanted, Wolverine fans saw their favorite character extend his final chapter alongside some familiar faces, and Marvel got to milk two cash cows at once. Not one for milk, however, is the down-on-his-luck failure of a Wolverine that we see portrayed in this film, who very much prefers whiskey neat and can be seen guzzling Jim Beam directly from the bottle to drown his sorrows.
The Whiskey: Jim Beam White Label Bourbon
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $20
Assuming the Jim Beam in the film is the same whiskey found in this universe (Marvel has been dabbling in several alternate universes over the past few years), then Wolvey is drinking one of the most reliable bottom-shelf bourbons on the market. Jim Beam White Label has a reputation as the preferred choice for outlaws and other rough-cut societal figures despite its bare minimum 40% ABV, but then, if you’re liberally drinking it directly from the bottle, your liver’s ABV is sure to increase pretty quickly.
10. Burt Young as Paulie Pennino in Rocky (1976)
The Movie:
Rocky is a timeless sports film that focuses on the titular Rocky Balboa, a small-time loan shark and local boxer who’s spent most of his career wasting his potential. Enter: Apollo Creed, a championship fighter with a big bout scheduled in Rocky’s hometown Philadelphia. Creed’s opponent suffers a last-minute injury and so he goes the unorthodox route of fielding local fighters to replace the injured man, eventually settling on Rocky. Rocky’s best friend, Paulie, is a bit of a lout and that’s underlined by the fact he always has a handy bottle of whiskey in his pocket, casting him as a belligerent drunken townie opposite Rocky’s more resilient, newly goal-oriented disposition.
The Whiskey: Four Roses Premium Blended Whiskey
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $150
Four Roses buffs will note that the expression Paulie was slugging throughout his run in Rocky was actually the brand’s blended American whiskey, which, at the time, was beloved by society’s most downtrodden members for its affordability. At the same time, Four Roses’ future Master Distiller Jim Rutledge had just begun working for Seagram in the Louisville Plant’s Research and Development Department. That’s a significant note because it was Rutledge who would eventually bring Four Roses bourbon back to the U.S. market decades later during his tenure as Master Distiller.
9. Paul Newman as Fast Eddie in The Hustler
The Movie:
The Hustler is centered around “Fast Eddie” Felson, a highly-talented pool shark who hustles people out of their hard-earned money on the felt. Fast Eddie suffers many highs and lows throughout the film, something any reprobate gambler can understand, but during one of his short-lived highs he’s seen outclassing the legendary pool player Minnesota Fats to the tune of $18,000 before he goes bust and breaks even. While Fast Eddie is on that hot streak, he and Fats have an entire bottle of bourbon nearby that they share between them. The name of that bourbon is J.T.S. Brown.
The Whiskey: J.T.S. Brown (1960)
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $600
Named after John Thomson Street Brown, who was integral in the founding of Brown-Forman, J.T.S. Brown has long been appreciated as a standard bearer of high-quality, affordable bourbon. In 1960, this brand would have been owned by the Ripy Brothers, who most famously would go on to produce Wild Turkey. Coincidentally, the longest-serving Master Distiller in world history would’ve also been producing the whiskey that went into J.T.S. Brown in 1960: Jimmy Russell.
8. John Belushi as John Blutarsky in Animal House
The Movie:
Hailed as one of the best comedies of all time, Animal House wouldn’t be what it is without the standout performance of John Belushi as John Blutarsky, the Delta Tau Chi frat bro who serves as the film’s most inspired comedic force. In one of the most memorable scenes in Belushi’s entire career, he’s seen spiraling as the Delta frat house is being raided by police, with the cops going so far as to confiscate “the whole bar.”
Luckily, a bottle of Old No. 7 was saved from the raid, and once tossed to John, he proceeds to down the entire bottle in one shot, instantly regaining his composure.
The Whiskey: Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
ABV: 40$%
Average Price: $20
Belushi’s iconic turn as John Blutarsky was already epic, but the shot of him with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s raised to his lips in his eternally fashionable “College” sweatshirt transcended 80s gross-out film subculture and entered the larger cultural zeitgeist. It’s a touchstone both for the 80s and representative of an enduring American archetype, the affordable whiskey-swigging college dude. Admittedly, it isn’t the world’s best representation of American drinking culture, but it does maintain a level of cool, even all these years later.
7. Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham in The Holdovers
The Movie:
Set in a small college town in 1970 New England, The Holdovers is about a strict, obstinate all-male boarding school teacher, Paul Hunham, who is forced to supervise five students over holiday break. Eventually the group is whittled down to just Hunham, cafeteria manager Mary Lamb, and Hunham’s most challenging student, Angus Tully. As the group learns to coexist, through fits and starts, the heartwarming core of the film is exposed as Paul and Angus learn about themselves in the process. Over the course of the film, Paul’s appreciation of fine bourbon ranges from Old Grand-Dad to Jim Beam White Label, but he seems particularly fond of vintage Old Forester Bottled in Bond.
The Whiskey:
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $2,000
Paul’s choice of Old Forester Bottled in Bond would’ve only been a few bucks back in 1970 when the film was set, but today, that same bottle is fetching $2,000. The modern equivalent of Old Forester Bottled in Bond would be Old Forester 1897, part of the brand’s Whiskey Row Series and retails for a much more reasonable sum of $55.
6. Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes in Chinatown
The Movie:
In the cinematic classic Chinatown, set in 1937, Jake Gittes is tasked with uncovering a mystery that runs far deeper than it initially seems. The story he (partially) gets to the bottom of is ensconced in misdirection and mystery, to the point that no one could blame you for grabbing a drink just from watching the film unfold. For his part, Jake reaches for a liquor cabinet full of National Distillers brands, with Old Crow featured prominently among them.
The Whiskey: Old Crow Bourbon
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $1,000
Quiet as it’s kept, there are few bourbon brands with as rich a history as Old Crow Bourbon. Founded by Dr. James C. Crow in the 1830s, who is at times known as “the father of bourbon,” the brand was formerly one of America’s premier bourbon expressions. Crow pioneered practices that are widespread today, such as sour mash fermentation and the use of charred oak barrels for aging. Today, it’s an overlooked bottom-shelf offering in the Jim Beam portfolio, which has seen its proof changed to 40% ABV, although there was a TTB filing earlier this year that indicates the brand may soon return to the 86-proof format. Watch this space.
5. Bill Murray as Phil Connors in Groundhog Day
The Movie:
Groundhog Day is a classic film about a weatherman tasked with covering the droll Groundhog Day ceremony in sleepy Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, who becomes stuck in an inexplicable time loop that forces him to relive the same day repeatedly. During the repeating bar sequence, Connors carefully orders his preferred drink, “Jim Beam, ice, water,” but switches over to sweet Vermouth on the rocks with a twist to impress his love interest Rita Hanson, played by Andie MacDowell, after learning it was her favorite drink the day before.
The Whiskey: Jim Beam Bourbon
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $20
Given its classic nature, it should come as no surprise that Jim Beam has a feature role in several classic films. In 1993, when this film hit theaters, Jim Beam was still producing decanters of their entry-level bourbon to entice consumers to buy more bourbon. Because we never get to see Connors actually drink his Jim Beam, we also never see the bottle behind the bar, but it’s a safe bet that he got his preferred pour from the iconic white-label bottle Jim Beam is known for.
4. Taron Egerton as Eggsy in Kingsman: The Golden Circle
The Movie:
If you’re looking for an outrageous, polished send-up of the debonair secret agent subcategory, then the Kingsman franchise is just what the doctor ordered. In this sequel to the well-received Kingsman: The Secret Service, we see most of the same cast of characters from the original, showcasing the clandestine spy organization’s British faction teaming up with their U.S. counterparts, The Statesman, whose secret base is hidden in a functioning bourbon distillery in Kentucky. If you were wondering, despite the Old Forester tie-in, the “distillery” featured in the film is the product of CGI magic and isn’t actually a place you can visit on Kentucky’s Whiskey Row.
The Whiskey: Old Forester Statesman
ABV: 47.5%
Average Price: $57
While many films have been known to create fake brands for the purpose of the film, the Kingsman movie is perhaps the first case where a movie actually partnered with a bourbon brand to create a brand-new expression. The moderate success of the film spawned a franchise that’s currently four films deep, and the commensurate success of the expression transformed Old Forester Statesman from a one-off release to an ongoing one available on shelves to this day.
3. Roger Moore as James Bond in Live And Let Die
The Movie:
Ian Fleming’s iconic character, James Bond, is famously known to order his martinis “shaken, not stirred” on the big screen but many people don’t know that Bond, loyal as he was to his classic cocktail, also frequently drank bourbon in the books. 007’s discernment in his drink orders made it on film for 1972’s Live And Let Die when, on a train through New Orleans, he wisely orders an Old Fashioned and, ever the exacting man of culture, goes the extra mile to specify his bourbon of choice: Old Grand Dad.
The Whiskey: Old Grand Dad 86-Proof (1971)
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $630
While Bond doesn’t specify which OGD he wanted in his cocktail, given the prevailing drinks culture of the time and the prevalence of the standard version, it seems fair to surmise that he would’ve received this 1971 86-proof version. Contemporary Old Grand Dad is only available at three proofs, 80, 100, and 114 but during Roger Moore’s time portraying the secret agent, Americans wanted a bit more flavor than they found in 80 proof offerings, which was the standard globally. Because Americans always have to be different. And so the 86 proof point became the most popular entry-level proof level for bourbon throughout the 70s and 80s. Also, it seems a little too on the nose for the debonair double-0 to order the “bottled in bond” version, don’t you think?
2. Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance in The Shining
The Movie:
The 1980 psychological horror film The Shining centers around Jack Torrance, the caretaker of the Overlook Inn, during its off-season. Before taking the job, Jack is warned that solitude in the isolated inn has previously been known to drive men mad; in fact, the person who had the job just before Jack viciously murdered his family and chopped their bodies up before doing himself in on the receiving end of a shotgun barrel — brutal stuff. Shaking off the warning, Torrance insists that he favors solitude and that it’ll give him time to work on his manuscript.
Writers and whiskey go hand in hand, I should know, but the Jack Daniel’s that Jack is served comes courtesy of a ghostly barkeep who uses it as a tool to fuel his descent into murderous madness.
The Whiskey: Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $27
1. Keanu Reeves as John Wick in John Wick
The Movie:
If you don’t know the story of expert assassin John Wick, do you even drink bourbon? The underworld’s most famous and feared hit-man successfully got out of “the life” to become a family man, but after the death of his wife and the murder of his dog by an oblivious and overzealous crime boss’s kid, he’s sent on a murderous rampage that spanned four “chapters” and single-handedly produced a new horde of bourbon bros who saw their favorite badass knocking back Blanton’s as steadfastly as he knocked out nameless thugs.
In one of movie history’s most famous bourbon-themed exchanges, the doctor fixing John up after a particularly nasty run-in with some of the thugs above asks, “Do you need anything for the pain?” to which Wick gestures to his glass and replies, “No, I’ve got that covered” before taking a healthy gulp. And that, kids, is how you become iconic.
The Whiskey: Blanton’s Bourbon
ABV: 46.5%
Average Price: $130
One of the most polarizing and hyped bourbons in all of the land, Blanton’s is the original single-barrel bourbon. Launched in 1984, each bottle of Blanton’s is the product of a single barrel, an idea hatched by Buffalo Trace’s then Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee. Today, while the quality is still reliably solid, there’s no denying that this bottle’s collectibility (the toppers all have different markings with the full set spelling out “Blanton’s”) and the cool factor is the reason it’s become almost impossible to find on store shelves. While the packaging itself is part of that, Keanu Reeves’ iconic portrayal of John Wick is a significant part of it as well.
