The Oscar-winning actor has teamed up with the Bordeaux Distilling Company, an urban distillery, to produce rye whiskies, which he is particularly fond of, as well as gin and… rum!
In 2018, the Bordeaux Distilling Company moved into premises in the Bacalan district, a stone’s throw from the River Garonne. From the outset, it was conceived as an urban distillery, modelled on American craft distilleries.
Its founders, Antoine Gravouil, Eric Lafon and Olivier Carsoule, aim to produce whisky, particularly rye whisky. But while waiting to become operational and for the liquids to age (it takes three years in oak barrels to be called whisky), they developed maceration products, notably Brunette, an organic coffee liqueur, in collaboration with a Bordeaux roaster, three gins (a London Dry, a Navy Strength and an Old Tom), an Amaro and a rye liqueur.
And an ‘urban rum’ in 2024, produced from molasses imported from Laos, distilled in a hybrid still, and aged in ex-rye casks, of course, in the BDB’s Bordeaux cellar, which is none other than a former hangar allowing an angel’s share of over 11% to be achieved.
Three rums in the portfolio
A ‘double cask’ vintage was then released in early 2025. After a year of resting in stainless steel vats, the rum is aged for two years in new 55-litre French oak casks, then for a year in ex-rye casks from the Bordeaux Distilling Company, for a total ageing period of three years.
The BDB rum range was then expanded with the addition of two whites: a white rum and a high ester rum. In the meantime, Olivier Carsoule brought his friend and actor Jean Dujardin into the project, who through the Bordeaux Distilling Company became a producer of rye whisky, gin and rum.