Jon Hamm Just Roasted Don Draper’s Whisky Taste

Turns out Don Draper had expensive suits, great hair, and absolutely “mid” whisky taste.

That’s according to Jon Hamm, the actor who played him. Hamm was chatting about the new season of his show Your Friends & Neighbors with the Hollywood Reporter and ended up throwing his most famous character straight under the bar cart.

Draper’s drink of choice in Mad Men? Canadian Club. Hamm calls it “bargain-basement” His new character, Andrew “Coop” Cooper, is sipping 25-year-old Macallan. 

Ooh la la. You can’t run to the store cupboard and grab four bottles of that Ms. Blankenship.

Macallan vs Canadian Club

“Don Draper drank Canadian Club, which is sort of a bargain-basement blended rye,” Draper says. “Coop drinks Macallan 25, which is like $5,000 a bottle*. I’ve had both of them – Macallan is much better.”

To be fair to Draper, the 1960s weren’t exactly peak single malt whisky territory. As Hamm puts it:

“Single malt was not popular in the ’60s. The blends were popular – J&B and Johnnie Walker, all the blended whiskeys were the big deal”.

Jon Hamm slams Can Club**

Easy on Canada, Jon

Canadian Club over The Macallan might sound like a downgrade now. Back then, it was just Tuesday. Lunchtime.

If we can say a little piece in the defence of Canadian Club, it’s £21.95. You can’t expect the moon from that, even if you are Conrad Hilton. A decent, versatile mixing whisky ain’t half bad bang for that buck.

Also, minor detail: none of it’s real. The “whisky” on set is usually iced tea or coloured water, depending on who’s drinking it. Which means Draper wasn’t even getting the cheap stuff. 

The real lucky bastards are the ones who get to drink actual whisky at work…