Jesse Williams Talks Whiskey, Favorite Albums and the Steel Drum Career That Didn’t Quite Pan Out
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It’s no secret that Jesse Williams is a great actor, but it turns out he knows a thing or two when it comes to great spirits and music as well.
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The actor was part of an intimate group of A-list guests at a recent party celebrating The Macallan’s James Bond 60th Anniversary Release. The Decade I edition was released on March 1 to select retailers in Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. Decade 2 will be made available for sale next month.
For Williams, having the chance to experience the limited-edition whiskey was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. “The Macallan is a brand that I’ve respected and enjoyed for some time,” he told Rolling Stone at the party, “and I like that it’s a brand that has a real heritage and craftsmanship behind it.”
Williams is a self-professed “whiskey guy,” and admits he “loves learning” about new expressions. Timed to the 60th anniversary of the James Bond franchise, the Macallan James Bond release is a single malt whisky inspired by 007’s “style and maturity which has evolved over the years.”
The Scotch whisky is aged for a minimum of 10 years in a combination of American and European oak casks, creating a complex flavor profile with notes of dried fruit, toffee and honey, balanced by a hint of smoke and spice. With a super limited production run — and a price tag in the high four-figures — this is a release that’s as special as they come.
For Williams, the Macallan event was a nice break from what’s been a hectic schedule filming the new season of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building (“We have an already insane cast, but now we have Meryl Streep,” the actor teases). In between sips of Macallan cocktails (and tastings of the James Bond release) Rolling Stone caught up with Williams to chat whiskey, drinking soundtracks and the surprising instrument that could have launched a whole other career path for him.
Rolling Stone: I know you’re a big whiskey fan Jesse, but what is it about whiskey that you like so much?
Jesse Williams: Whiskey is something that I’ve grown to enjoy over the years. I enjoy the taste, obviously, but there’s also this earthiness that I enjoy, both in libations, but also just in life. I’m a big nature guy so the wood and the smokiness [of whiskey] is something I connect with.
I feel like there’s also something ritualistic to whiskey.
You definitely take your time with it. Whiskey has a reverence to it, so you’re not just going to be slamming it. That would not end well (laughs)
Are you a big music guy?
Huge.
What kind of artists would you pair with The Macallan?
I’m just going to rattle off artists that are top of mind, but I would say Bob Dylan and The Band, like The Basement Tapes, and then people like Neil Young, Howlin’ Wolf… There’s a cool band called Frontier Ruckus that had this amazing first record called The Orion Songbook.
I like a whole bunch of stuff from reggae and jazz, to country and blues. But I would say with whiskey, you want to listen to things that are passionate, and people who are truly coming from a kind of pain and discomfort and their release of that.
The Macallan Whiskey
What artists are on your current playlist these days?
I drive an ’89 Land Cruiser. It’s an old truck and all I have is a CD player. So I literally just pulled out all my CDs and I’m listening to all these CDs that were on my high school CD rack, except they’re now in a slip cover that’s under my visor.
What CDs did you dig out?
Rage Against the Machine, Ghostface, Saul Williams, Neil Young, Van Morrison — I listen to a lot of Van Morrison — The Cranberries, Radiohead… literally all the CDs I have left from when I was younger. And then a lot of reggae mixtapes with Freddie McGregor and Gregory Isaacs and stuff like that. That’s my current rotation in my six-disc changer (laughs)
I love how eclectic your musical tastes are. Do you remember the first concert you went to?
The first concert I went to, I discovered this actually not too long ago, was as a baby. My dad took me to a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert. I don’t remember it because I was very young. The first one I remember was probably Phish, in high school.
Are you a Phishhead?
I went to high school in Providence, Rhode Island so a lot of us kids were like Deadheads or Phishheads. But I’m also a hardcore reggae guy. So Yellowman was probably one of my first small theater concerts, and Luciano. I grew up playing steel drums too.
Steel drums? How did you get into that?
My uncle had a steel drum band and would play in nightclubs. I used to make pans in the summer and it was like a summer job. And then I would play in the clubs with him as a kid.
How old were you?
I was like 12 or 13, and I played with a bunch of adults, so I had to get a permission slip each time for me to go into the clubs at night. I wasn’t a prodigy, but it was very good for a young kid.
We know you’re a great actor, but do you have any musical aspirations?
I play pan, I play sax, but I cannot sing. Well, I can probably sing a little bit.
So no Jesse Williams album coming any time soon?
Not yet, but we’ll see (smiles).
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