Column: Why Does Whisky Never Get the Starring Role It Deserves in Films?

It was that time again yesterday. I was at the cinema, watching Nobody 2, and I saw several scenes of people enjoying whisky. At least three times. Bullseye. No, certainly not. Always a tumbler and every time the drink seemed to act as a 'medicine'.

Isn't it disappointing to see how whisky often plays a supporting role in various films, but hardly ever provides a positive example? I want to see films where characters indulge in whisky, discuss its aromas and flavors, and relish a good glass.

This doesn't have to involve hours of analysis, but it's the idea that counts: let whisky show what it's truly meant for. A beverage with hours of craftsmanship and love imbued, distillation as a beautiful process like the Eiffel Tower in Paris. And when you have a glass, you think: yes, this is crafted with pure love.

But what do I get? Film after film with scenes of whisky being drunk from tumbler glasses in the most hostile settings. Yesterday I watched Nobody 2, which is, by the way, a terrible movie, and apparently, whisky is a given with such a fight movie. Bad guys sit around a table, discussing their nefarious plans over a glass of divine drink (it was possibly Lagavulin, but I can't be 100% sure).

It's a scene I've watched countless times before. And so goes for whisky as medication or a 'stimulant' to continue with the hard life. Of course, that was the role of whisky years ago, but surely not anymore?

When will we see this water of life in a pleasant way? Give me, for instance, a romantic comedy (Johan Nijenhuis, where are you?) where people have a date at a distillery, go on a tour together, and end with a beautiful drink.

Or show me a negotiation between bad guys who first enjoy a Scotch from a Glencairn glass, and instead of boasting about how many times they've been shot and how many scars they have, they describe the aromas and flavors of that drink. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the villain in Squid Game visibly savoring a 21-year-old GlenAllachie while watching people die in his sick game. But I would have loved it to be a tad crazier. Imagine if he announced over an intercom after a death: 'Ah, he's gone, as dark as the brown chocolate I taste!' Or 'Mmm, your intestines look as good as the red berries in my whisky.' Now that would have been shocking, right?

So, can we please elevate whisky in films to a higher level, dear directors, and scriptwriters? But then again, who's going to listen to me?

After all, I'm just a nobody.