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Taylor Kitsch is having a rough morning.
The actor has pulled over to the side of a road in rural Montana, lamenting his lack of luck fly fishing by the river. He’s been casting by a spot near Yellowstone since the crack of dawn, with nothing to show for except some stressed rods and an empty stomach, so he’s decided to warm up in his car and sink his teeth into a sandwich, while pondering his next move.
“I’m absolute dog shit right now,” he sighs, as he signs onto a Zoom call with Rolling Stone. “Like three bites in two hours. So it’s a good time to take a breath.”
Something to ease the sting perhaps: the actor’s new campaign for Jefferson’s Bourbon, which helps to re-introduce the Kentucky–based bourbon brand, which released its first bottle in 1997. Known for breaking the mold when it comes to creating and aging bourbon, Jefferson’s tongue-in-cheek campaign finds Kitsch gamely navigating different environments and climates to show the different ways — and different places — where the company has finished their liquid. Titled “Tradition in the Breaking,” the 30-second clip proves there are multiple ways to make a good bourbon. Kitsch’s tagline: “Untraditional finishing and blending for an unforgettable taste.”
While the commercial casts Kitsch adrift at sea and (literally) chilling on top a glacier, the 44-year-old actor has found his ideal conditions these days in Bozeman, Montana, where he moved in 2021 after having spent the majority of his adult life in Austin. The actor moved to Texas in his 20s to film Friday Night Lights, and while he looks back on his time there fondly, he was ready for a change.
Now, he’s traded Friday Night Lights for a view of the Northern Lights in Big Sky Country, and Kitsch says it’s helped him re-discover the simpler things in life. “I love motorcycle riding, wildlife photography, and there were more like-minded people here in Montana,” he tells Rolling Stone. “And I think for me and my brain, it was good, because I can be active 365 [days] here.”
The Canadian transplant says he also missed experiencing all four seasons in Austin, which was another reason for making the move to Montana. “We don’t have snow yet — it’s out in the mountain tops — but it’s beautiful,” he says. “And I cannot wait for some outdoor hockey. I’m like your stereotypical Canadian,” he jokes, adding that “that would be a great time for Jefferson’s as well. There’s a guy that lives 10 blocks from me that has this incredible outdoor rink, and then he has a bonfire. So I’ll definitely be bringing a bottle over.”
With memorable turns in films like Lone Survivor and Only the Brave, along with critically-acclaimed roles in the miniseries True Detective, Waco and American Primeval, Kitsch has mostly projected an intense and serious demeanor on screen. That’s exactly why the actor says he was drawn to the Jefferson’s commercial, which allowed him to flex his comedic chops.
“I guess I do a lot of more dramatic work so I’m not known for comedy or anything, but the pitch was hilarious to me,” Kitsch says of the clip, which he shot in Romania over the summer. “I don’t take myself so seriously, especially if you get to know me, so that was a big part of it, kind of taking the piss out of myself, and just having fun. I think anytime you’re on screen, if the people watching know you’re having fun, it’s infectious.”
Jefferson’s is available to purchase online in a number of finishes, including rye whiskey aged in cognac casks; Jefferson’s Tropics, which sees Kentucky bourbon rested in Singapore humidity for 18 months; a 130 proof cask strength release; and even a whiskey aged in casks set out to sea (no, really).
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Jefferson’s Bourbon
Jefferson’s signature blend features three hand-selected straight bourbons with different mash bills and ages. The resulting liquid features aromas of brown sugar with notes of vanilla, peach, toffee and light honey.
Kitsch says he’s selective about what he drinks, and he was drawn not only to the flavor of Jefferson’s, but to the ritual of drinking bourbon too. “If you’re on tequila, you’re on one, and you’re probably going out and going hard,” he says. “When I do have a drink, it’s after a long day out fly fishing or camping or tracking wolves, whatever it is. And then 95% of the time, it’s sharing it with somebody,” he adds, nodding to a friend sitting in the car with him. “I mean, it would be a perfect time this late afternoon, just to have one on the rocks and wind down.”
There’s a more personal connection to bourbon too: “I would equate it to camping with my oldest brother,” Kitsch shares. “Our dad wasn’t around, so I would kind of tag along with my brother, and that’s where I got this fishing bug from. He’s in Vancouver, and he comes down to Montana, and that was actually the last time I had Jefferson’s. I was with him, we camped in my adventure van by the river side, and just had one by the fire.”
Up next for the actor, preparing for a different kind of role: that of Christmas connoisseur. “I go completely nuts for Christmas with a wall on my house with lights, and a 30-foot blow-up Santa Claus, and a 25-foot gingerbread man. And then I have about 5000-plus lights on my house. So I go to town man,” he says. “I go full Griswold on that.”
With Mariah Carey’s “‘All I Want for Christmas Is You‘ blasting through the speakers (“Arguably the best Christmas song on the planet,” Kitsch declares), this minted Montana man says there’s nowhere else he’d rather be for the holidays. “I love Christmas. It just reminds me of home with the snow, us brothers and my mom,” he says. “It’s always nice to come back to the mountains and just kind of lose yourself.”
