Filmland Spirits Ryes of the Robots Whiskey
Photos via Filmland Spirits
How much do the aesthetics of a brand really matter to the average spirits consumer? Say we’re talking about American whiskey, especially bourbon and rye—does the person buying a bottle care whether it has a pretty label? What percentage of drinkers care whether a brand reflects one of their hobbies? And if they’re consumers who know whiskey and understand where the liquor in the bottle is coming from, are they willing to pay more for the same whiskey, just because it comes in an attractive bottle? How much more?
These are the types of questions one can’t help but grapple with as you dig into the newly released starting lineup from American whiskey brand Filmland Spirits. Featuring gorgeous labels and attractively designed bottles, along with highly detailed theming that will appeal to anyone who loves cinema and B-movies in particular—that’s me, 100%—they certainly should manage to stand out on the shelves of a package store. But considering that the spirit in the bottles are very familiar, sourced bourbon and rye from the kings of sourced whiskey, MGP of Indiana, how much are those labels ultimately worth when the same whiskey is also available significantly more affordably on the same whiskey shelf?
This is not a new question, naturally—many brands source from MGP, or a handful of the biggest Kentucky whiskey distilleries, and the quality of their distillate is widely admired. But if there’s one bottle of MGP rye whiskey from a company like Bulleit or Templeton on the shelf at $30-35, and another of similar age and strength on the shelf next to it at $60, does that not seem like a hard sell?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, Filmland Spirits doesn’t really advertise the provenance of its liquid. The website rather misleadingly describes both the company’s bourbon and rye as being “produced on location” in Kentucky, words with no legal meaning. The word “Indiana” doesn’t appear on the website anywhere, as far as I can tell, though thankfully it legally is required to be on the back of the bottle. To cut through the treacle, what we have in this bottle of rye is a 47% ABV (94 proof) bottle of straight rye whiskey, aged for “4+ years” in #4 char barrels.
Where the brand really does shine is in its theming and marketing, which imagines a fully fleshed-out werewolf romance story for its Moonlight Mayhem bourbon, and an equally impressive sci-fi space epic for Ryes of the Robots. Just look at this flavor text:
In the aftermath of the Automation Wars of 3050, the world rejects technology and embraces a simpler time where cocktail clubs are the new state houses and bartenders hold sway. When a fallen technology titan builds an army of robotic bartenders to conquer the world, the only hope is Courtney Winters, the Cocktail Consortium’s number one bartender. Can she fend off this despotic army of mechanized mixologists or will this be the world’s unhappiest hour?!