Johnnie Walker Blue Label – Gentleman’s Wager II
Placing a wager and risking everything for something you love is a sign of what lengths you’re willing to go to get your goal. From by-gone movie eras where films transpired around wager like story lines, male leads would risk their life or fortune I attaining their love, their mind fogged by passion but their focus crisp and clear on the goal.
Johnnie Walker Blue Label have brought together Jude Law and Giancarlo Giannini once again for a sequel of sorts in The Gentleman’s Wager II, directed by British director Jake Scott of Ridley Scott Associates. This time round, Law falls in love with Giannini’s exquisite Delahaye 135S classic racing car in glorious French blue. Giannini explains how the car is ‘rarer than rare’. Quite true as there are only a handful of these beautiful racing cars that once used to beat the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes in the original Formula 1 grand-prix format. The similarities between the car and Johnnie Walker’s Blue Label can be credited to that quote, where Johnnie Walker’s head blender Jim Beveridge has spent his life blending the rare whiskies creating the unique blend that characterises Blue Label.
The Delahaye steals the show in the movie, and rightly so. Vintage cars have an aura about them that is transfixing and magical. No wonder Law falls in love with it and sets to work at repairing it and getting it into working order. His wager with Giannini is that he’ll repair the old car and race to to Monaco by a certain time in order to win the care. Along the way, Law experiences troubles but finds helping hands who offer their help for him to gain his prize.
The Gentleman’s Wager II lends a subtle nod towards the mantra of giving – or rather the “joy of giving”. As Johnnie Walker Blue Label is synonymous with exceptional quality, it is only fair that one considers offering it a gift – the ultimate show of appreciation. With tasting notes that include a fragrant and good body that contain notes of oak, crisp spice, berry fruits, hints of cedar, and a touch of spice and citrus. The palate is supple and balanced with toffee and hints of wistful smoke.
“I’m really straight forward – I like my whisky large, and without any ice. That’s literally it. Johnnie Walker Blue Label is such a delicious drink and I don’t like it spoiled. I like it literally as it comes.” Jude Law
What type of wager would you place in real life?
“I’m not a huge betting person – I don’t really get a thrill out of it. I’m too cautious in real life if I’m to be honest. But through the filming of the Gentleman’s Wager I’ve lived vicariously through this adventure with Giancarlo. I seem to live out most things in the roles I play as opposed to in real life.”
What are your passions in life ?
“My own passions include travel and movies – and that goes hand in hand now as I make movies and travel because of it. I enjoy visiting places and absorbing its culture. My passion for movies has been with me since I was a boy – I’ve always been obsessed with seeing films and now I’m fortunate enough to be making them. I also quite like architecture, even though I don’t have any expertise, but I sort of know what I like. And so while living and working in Rome the past months I’ve become obsessed with Francesco Borromini and I’ve been hunting down his gems all around the city.”
Where would your ideal road trip take place?
“Earlier this year I went to Bolivia and really enjoyed it. I would love to explore more of South America as I don’t know it very well. I’d love to drive either north or south all the way through the countries of South America.”
What did you enjoy in filming the Gentleman’s Wager II?
“The people have been really fun to work with during the making of the movie and there’s something very organic about a group of people who get on and are able to create something that they believe in and you’re all on the same page. You really start to feel you’re a family and there’s a sort of unspoken understanding. It was like living a fantasy of driving a car like the Delahaye and driving it around the Monaco grand prix street circuit. We were there five days before the grand prix was taking place, so we had the whole of the finishing line to ourselves and it amazing driving that car down the straights and having the crash barriers and bleachers on either side it was a dream. It was fantastic fun.”
Jude Law stars in The Gentleman’s Wager II, the latest short film from Johnnie Walker Blue Label celebrating the belief that a little gratitude goes a long way. Watch the film at www.youtube.com/johnniewalker
