Lucien Laviscount fronts a new short film from Maker’s Mark

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There’s a time and a place for compromise. No one’s expecting hand-chiselled ice in an airport bar, are they? The same way not every drink on a menu needs a long and painfully self-important backstory. And — despite what certain pockets of east London might insist upon — almost nobody wants to spend twenty minutes discussing vermouth.

But certain things still benefit from ceremony. A proper steak. A trimly tailored suit. Or a cocktail made by somebody who knows the appeal of simple drinks done well. That’s the thinking behind Maker’s Mark’s latest collaboration with Hawksmoor — and an accompanying short film starring Lucien Laviscount, shot at the steakhouse’s newly opened St Pancras outpost.

But the highly decorated bourbon brand has long preferred its own path, staunchly and commendably refusing to compromise. Back in 1953, founders Margie and Bill Samuels, Sr. broke with tradition, burning their family’s 170-year-old whiskey recipe in pursuit of something softer, sweeter and altogether more balanced. The result was Maker’s Mark: a bourbon made with soft red winter wheat rather than rye, and with that rounded, creamy profile that lends itself so well to an Old Fashioned.

Served at Hawksmoor sites across London, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh until Father’s Day on June 21, the Maker’s Mark ‘Kentucky River’ Summer Old Fashioned folds white cacao and peach into the classic cocktail. And, to mark the collaboration, the brand called on British actor Lucien Laviscount to star alongside the serve in a new campaign film. Titled Perfectly Unreasonable, the film is a glass raised to moments that deserve more intention — and a reminder from the actor to slow things down.

“There’s something special about going to a great bar, being with good company and taking a moment to enjoy it properly,” says Laviscount. “We compromise on little things all day, so when you do get that moment to stop, you want it to feel like it's all worth it. For me, that’s a Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned: simple ingredients, done properly, with real character.”

When Gentleman’s Journal sat down with Laviscount for a quick-fire question round across the bar, the actor doubled down on his affection for the cocktail. “There’s a reason classics stick around,” he said. Elsewhere in our conversation, the actor revealed that he’ll always choose Paris as his favourite international city to visit, that he’s taken up journalling in recent years, and that time with family remains one thing he refuses to compromise on.

Maker’s Mark, fittingly, also remains a family affair. Rob Samuels — the brand’s managing director and an eighth-generation whisky maker — says the company still works to the standards laid down by his grandparents more than seventy years ago. Every bottle is still hand-dipped in the brand’s signature red wax; every barrel rotated by hand and aged to taste rather than timetable.

“Lucien Laviscount captures that same spirit,” he adds. “Of being uncompromising about things that matter — from time spent intentionally with friends, to the way a great Old Fashioned cocktail is crafted and served."

In Hawksmoor — yet another believer in dry-ageing, slow-cooking and that good things come to those who wait — both Maker’s Mark and Laviscount have found a perfect scene partner. Fine whisky. Good steak. Proper conversation. And a reminder that, every now and then, some things are still worth doing slowly.