THEDAILYWHISKY

The Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned is the centre of a new 2026 campaign in which British actor Lucien Laviscount stars in a short film for the wheated Kentucky bourbon, owned by Suntory Global Spirits. Filmed at the newly opened Hawksmoor St Pancras in London and premiered on Laviscount’s Instagram in early June 2026, the campaign runs into Father’s Day on 21 June. Hawksmoor is also pouring a summer Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned made with white cacao, peach and a lemon twist across eleven UK restaurants through June. The standard bottling is 45% ABV and carries an RRP of £35.

A bourbon brand making a film about an Old Fashioned is hardly news on its own. What makes this one worth a look is the framing: Maker’s Mark has tied actor Lucien Laviscount to the idea of not cutting corners on the moments that actually matter, and then handed the serve to one of Britain’s best steakhouse groups in the run-up to Father’s Day.

Laviscount stars in a short film shot at the recently opened Hawksmoor in St Pancras, London. The premise is simple. Most of the day is full of small compromises, and the point of a proper drink is to be the part you don’t compromise on. Laviscount describes a good Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned as “simple ingredients, done properly, with real character.” The film premiered on his Instagram account in early June 2026.

The campaign sits under Maker’s Mark’s wider “Perfectly Unreasonable” idea, which leans on the extra effort the distillery claims to put into its bourbon. Rob Samuels, the brand’s managing director and an eighth-generation member of the founding family, frames it through house process: barrels rotated by hand, whisky aged to taste rather than to a fixed number, and every bottle finished with the brand’s hand-dipped red wax.

Why a cocktail campaign, and why now

The timing is deliberate. The serve is positioned for Father’s Day, which falls on 21 June in the UK, and the brand is leaning on a shift in how people spend. Maker’s Mark points to UK drinkers becoming choosier about going out while still paying up for quality, citing a figure of around 20% more spent per month on eating and drinking out than in 2024.

In plain terms: fewer rounds, better drinks. An Old Fashioned, which is essentially bourbon, sugar and bitters, is a sensible flag to plant if your pitch is that the spirit should be good enough to carry the glass on its own.

What Maker’s Mark actually is

Maker’s Mark is a wheated bourbon from Loretto, Kentucky, founded in 1953 by Margie and Bill Samuels, Sr. The defining choice is the mash bill: soft red winter wheat in place of the rye that most bourbons use as their secondary grain. Wheat tends to push a softer, sweeter, more rounded profile, which is a large part of why Maker’s Mark works so easily in a stirred drink.

Like all bourbon, it is matured in new charred American oak, which drives the vanilla and caramel character. The core bottling sits at 45% ABV. The wider range has grown well beyond it, with Maker’s Mark 46, Cask Strength, Cellar Aged and the Private Selection custom-barrel programme, plus the 2025 arrival of Star Hill Farm Whisky, the distillery’s first wheat whisky.

For readers tracking sustainability credentials, Maker’s Mark is a certified B Corp and is Regenified certified, with the farming work centred on Star Hill Farm at the distillery.

The Hawksmoor serve and how to make a Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned at home

The headline reason to care if you live near a Hawksmoor: the brand has built a custom summer Old Fashioned with the group, available across its eleven restaurants in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh through June. The build is Maker’s Mark with white cacao and peach, finished with a lemon twist, a lighter and more summery take than the classic winter-leaning Old Fashioned. (Coverage has listed the serve under two names, the Kentucky River and the Kentucky Sunrise, so ask for the Maker’s Mark summer Old Fashioned if in doubt.)

If you would rather make the classic at home, the brand’s own spec is straightforward:

Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned

• 50ml Maker’s Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon
• 5ml sugar syrup
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Orange peel twist to garnish, over a large ice cube

Stir the bourbon, bitters and syrup over ice until cold, strain onto fresh ice in a rocks glass, then express and drop in the orange twist. The whole appeal is restraint, so resist the urge to add anything else.

What the bourbon tastes like

Since the campaign is really about the bottle behind the cocktail, here is where the standard expression lands.

Maker’s Mark tasting notes

Nose: vanilla, soft caramel, baked bread, a touch of red apple and gentle oak 
Palate: sweet and rounded, caramel and vanilla up front, wheat-led creaminess, light baking spice 
Finish: medium, with caramel, mild oak and a faint warm spice ABV: 45% | Cask type: new charred American oak | Price: £35 (70cl)

This is a soft, sweet, easygoing bourbon rather than a high-intensity one, and that is the point. The wheat keeps the spice in check and the sugar forward, which is exactly what you want stirred down into an Old Fashioned.

Price, availability and the verdict

Maker’s Mark carries an RRP of £35 for the 70cl bottle and is widely stocked in the UK, including The Whisky Exchange.

It is one of the easier wheated bourbons to find internationally, so readers outside the UK should have no trouble sourcing the bottle even if the Hawksmoor serve is a UK-only treat.

The verdict is simple. The film is marketing, and the Hawksmoor serve is a limited summer pour, but the bourbon underneath is a genuinely sound buy at £35. If you want an approachable, sweet, wheat-driven bourbon that makes a reliable Old Fashioned without fuss, this is an easy recommendation. If you chase cask strength, heavy rye spice or peat, look elsewhere in the range or off it entirely. As a Father’s Day bottle for someone who likes their whisky soft and their cocktails classic, it does the job.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Maker’s Mark and Lucien Laviscount collaboration? It is a 2026 marketing campaign in which British actor Lucien Laviscount stars in a short film for Maker’s Mark, themed around not compromising on the moments that matter. The film was shot at Hawksmoor St Pancras in London and premiered on Laviscount’s Instagram in early June, timed to Father’s Day.

What is in the Hawksmoor Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned? It is a summer twist on the Old Fashioned built with Maker’s Mark bourbon, white cacao and peach, finished with a lemon twist. It is available across Hawksmoor’s eleven UK restaurants in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh throughout June 2026, in the lead-up to Father’s Day on 21 June.

How do you make a Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned at home? Stir 50ml Maker’s Mark with 5ml sugar syrup and two dashes of Angostura bitters over ice until cold. Strain onto a large fresh ice cube in a rocks glass and garnish with an expressed orange peel twist. The drink is meant to be simple, so avoid adding extra ingredients.

What kind of whisky is Maker’s Mark? Maker’s Mark is a wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon, made in Loretto, Kentucky, since 1953. It uses soft red winter wheat instead of rye as its secondary grain, giving a softer, sweeter profile. The core bottling is 45% ABV and is matured, like all bourbon, in new charred American oak.

How much does Maker’s Mark cost and where can I buy it? The standard 70cl bottle has an RRP of £35 in the UK and is stocked at Amazon, The Whisky Exchange and Tesco, among others. It is also widely available internationally, making it one of the more reliably sourced wheated bourbons for readers outside the UK.

Is Maker’s Mark good for an Old Fashioned? Yes. Its wheated mash bill keeps the spice gentle and the sweetness forward, which suits the bourbon-and-bitters simplicity of an Old Fashioned. It is one of the more forgiving bourbons to build the drink around, especially for anyone newer to making cocktails at home.