Keanu Reeves Talks Whisky, (John) Wick and What He Stocks on His Bar Cart

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This spring, the House of Suntory celebrates its 100th anniversary with the release of two ultra rare Japanese whiskies: Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara and Hakushu 18 Year Old Peated Malt. The former is set to retail at $1500 a bottle, the latter for $1200.

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But given the astronomical popularity of these particular distilleries in recent years, you’d be fortunate to find them on shelves for double those suggested costs. It’s quite the contrast from where the liquid was at in, say, the early 1990s. That’s when newly-minted superstar Keanu Reeves—fresh off the international success of Point Break—first started doing ads for the brand. You can be forgiven if you missed them since they primarily aired in Japan. Around that same time, Suntory couldn’t even give its liquid away back here in the States.

Reeves, for his part, was a true believer. And now he’s being rewarded for his early adopter status. In advance of its centennial, Suntory tapped the John Wick star, inviting him to Japan to visit the Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries. There he was met by chief blender Shinji Fukuyo, who took hum under his wing, exposing him to precious stocks of liquid and walking him through one hundred years of history—one bottle at at time. Some of this journey will soon be revealed in an upcoming docu-series directed by Roman Coppola. In the meantime, Reeves is already the lead in a short film paying tribute to the brand that birthed the Japanese whisky category 100 years ago. It’s directed by Coppola’s Academy Award-winning sister, Sofia.

Rolling Stone recently caught up with Reeves in London, where he was introducing Suntory’s 100th Anniversary bottlings to European audiences at an exclusive gala and tasting. The famously pensive leading man pontificated on inspiration, aspiration and his long-lasting love affair with Japan—including, but by no means limited to, its whisky.

John Wick is actually drinking Yamazaki 12 on top of the Continental Hotel in Tokyo in the last chapter. Did you push for this inclusion?

Keanu Reeves: Ah, yes. The director of the John Wick films Chad Stahelski, and I really appreciate Japanese whisky and often times—on all of the films—we’ve come to Japan for promotion and the Yamazaki has a relationship with those films and how we speak about those films. And since the setting [in John Wick 4] was Japan, why not go with the house that started Japanese whisky, right? It was cool.

Yamazaki 12 Year Old Whisky
Yamazaki 12 Year Old Whisky

Yamazaki 12 Year Old Whisky

Price: $199.99

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Talk more about the ways in which that country has influenced your life and career.

Life and career [pauses]…One of the things that pops into the head is Japanese cinema and anime. And certainly working with the Wachowskis on the Matrix films. [I] really got to experience that relationship to anime, cinema, aesthetics, storytelling. And I remember being introduced to Bashō the poet. And then over the course of time, being able to travel there. Just the way the culture—with whatever endeavor— feels like it has a relationship to craftsmanship and nature, from a Western perspective it could be fetishization. But that’s not deep enough. They go into it. They go totally to whatever that lens or that heart soul is looking into; tea ceremony, flower arranging, knots, wood-working, everything. The ritualism of it.

As the days have gone on and I’ve felt it, it’s like a standard. And then the zen idea of being in the moment…Piercing through [claps loudly]. During the docu-series that we did, I was also interacting with Japanese artisans. Like a Noh mask maker, a generational kabuki actor, a renowned calligraphist, renowned sculptor. It was cool to have that perspective from the House of Suntory—‘We want you to meet us and learn but also at the same time we want to connect that the other Japanese tradition and way of being’….I’m sorry, did I answer your question?

Yes, totally. Can you remember your first “whoa” moment with Japanese whisky?

I don’t know if it was the first time, but I know the whisky and the place were perfect…It was at the old Imperial Bar at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo and I had a Hibiki 21. I was there for press promotion for Point Break. That became one of my favorite places to go in Tokyo. I like to stay at the Imperial. Then I did this ad, 30 years ago, for the Suntory Reserve. So there was a lot of early experiences. You know, I’m still a kid—a 58-year-old kid—but sometimes when you’re younger you can have experiences you can be profoundly affected by but not really know why or what’s going on. You can get into a sports car and be like, “YAY!” But you don’t know what really goes into it. You can play a sport as a kid and catch a ball and throw something but you don’t really know the game. So it’s been cool to learn more about what goes into the process.

hibiki 21
hibiki 21

Hibiki 21 Suntory Whisky

Price: $1307.99

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What have you learned specifically about Japanese whisky?

I got to spend time with [Suntory] chief master blender Shinji and his team. I literally got off the plane and met him. And I went to his working/tasting room and so we had all these flights of different whiskies. He really gave me a super simple 101-introduction for Keanu. When I spoke with him, they were introducing terms to me like harmony and omotenashi. They were trying to really share what made Japanese whisky Japanese whisky. I’ve never done tours of Scottish distilleries, so I’ve only really gotten to this level with them. But their dedication, their focus, their appreciation; the water, they way they deal with the mashes, the blending, that relationship with nature—being in that place. And they often times speak about perfection and how you can never have it.

It’s like the Japanese concept of Kaizen — constant improvement. That seems like something that would be right on your wavelength.

Yes, you try right? Because if you can [pauses], it’s fun. And it teaches. It’s kind of like learning, exploring, but also realizing something. I appreciate that point of view. Taken to an extreme, I guess anything can be debilitating. You don’t wanna go mad. But I think I enjoy that way.

Is that something you got a better sense of during your time with Shinji-san?

I spent, I dunno, four hours just kind of tasting. He was so kind and generous with me. I went into it with ‘beginner mind.’ I don’t have a trained palate; I’m a fan and have appreciation, but I’m not trained. But what was so gentle and nice about him, was him asking me, ‘What are you experiencing? What do you taste?’ It was generous of him to kind of take that in and say, ‘Yes…Hmm…Maybe?’ It was very conversational. I got to taste more finished expressions. But because of the time I spent with Shinji I was able to discern it a little better—the complexity of what was there. I’m a still beginner.

But it seems like you have quite the mentor, at least. That’s your Morpheus right there.

[laughs] Yeah!

Were you able to find commonality between the craft of filmmaking and how Shinji-san pursues the craft of blending?

Yes. So, I’ll use John Wick as an example of taking influences and blending. All of the different influences that the filmmaker Chad Stahelski spoke about: Bushido, Western films, anime, Japanese Cinema, Hagakure, trying to mix all of these disparate elements to his personal expression of a John Wick film. And when I spoke with Shinji-san, I said it feels like a puzzle, man! One thing he spoke about which I think he shares with a filmmaker is he has a vision for where he wants to go and takes all of these different casks, tasting all the different profiles, and comes to this way of taking these different elements to express it.

What do you keep stocked on your home bar?

KR: “If we went to my house there would be a Yamazaki 18, a Yamazaki 12, there would be a Hibiki 21, and now some Hakushu. In my journey with going to the distilleries, my appreciation for Hakushu has really grown. There would be a Macallan 18, there would be an Ardbeg 25. So I like both sides: I like the peaty, and I like lighter blends. I like the smoky and also the fruity, vanilla side of it.

Yamazaki 18 Year Old Single Malt Japanese Whisky
Yamazaki 18 Year Old Single Malt Japanese Whisky

Yamazaki 18 Year Old Single Malt Japanese Whisky

Price: $1249.99

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And if you had to pick one bottle?

You must know this: it really just depends on how you feel. Sometimes you’re in the mood for something fruitier. I will say that I had the chance to try the anniversary Yamazaki that Shinji-san made and OH MY GOSH!!! I have to speak to him about that because I want to know what he blended. The partnership and contrasts—I didn’t know about Mizunara casking and that impact and that anniversary blend is really a celebration of that.

You have this reputation of using fame for good. Can you talk more about your philosophy on this? Do you enjoy that reputation?

Everyone can do more, right? But in my way, I like to be private about those things. I’m not on social media, ya know. So if there’s anything I have the opportunity to do where I can have a personal connection, I feel grateful for that.

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