Benjamin Walker Interview: DIAGEO Whisky & The Rings of Power (2024)

Celebrate the holiday season by sipping some DIAGEO Special Releases Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection: Elusive Expressions while catching up with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Set thousands of years before J.R.R. Tolkien's iconic novels, the Prime Video series chronicles a variety of characters across Middle-earth as they find themselves encountering various forces of evil across the world, all of which signal the return of the Dark Lord Sauron.

Among the show's large ensemble cast is Benjamin Walker as Gil-galad, the High King of the Elves who rules from the realm of Lindon. Though he only briefly appeared in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, Walker's incarnation of the ruler is one of the highlights of the new series. In spite of his serious demeanor, Gil-galad resonates with hope and is keen to find a way to save his people, though he isn't willing to take too big a risk.

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In honor of the unique liquor collection's arrival, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with Benjamin Walker to discuss the DIAGEO Special Releases Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection: Elusive Expressions, why he is so passionate about whisky, his love of working on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and more.

Benjamin Walker on DIAGEO's Scotch Whisky & LOTR: The Rings of Power

Screen Rant: I'm a big whisky drinker myself, so when I learned that DIAGEO was doing this Single Malt Scotch Whisky Special Release, I thought that was such a cool thing to take part in. How did you become part of this special collection?

Benjamin Walker: Well, I too, love good whisky. I think particularly with this release, its connection with fantasy, it just seemed like a good pairing. These days, I'm pretty entrenched in whisky and the world of imagination.

How involved were you with helping put together some of the themes that they had, or was it all really just right there ready to go?

Benjamin Walker: It was ready to go. It's like being on the set of Lord of the Rings. There are a lot of people that have come together to make something this good, and this interesting, and my job is to show up and enjoy it and to share it.

Do you have a favorite in this specific release collection of the ones that are there?

Benjamin Walker: I always have a bottle of Oban in my house. But the Talisker, in particular, you can literally smell and taste the ocean in it. That kind of sweet, briny nature that it has, and that kind of caramel warmth as it goes down. I kind of can't get enough of it.

What are some of the biggest things that you look for in some of your favorite whiskies? Do you like earthiness, do you like oak?

Benjamin Walker: I like the complexity of it, I like that something that's good takes time to make and takes time to savor and enjoy. That. It's something that, as you drink it, it not only gives you a physical experience, but it's like gears shifting in your mouth and in your body. I particularly like whisky, because it is a whole body sensation, whether it's that first burn of the first sip and then the [rest of the glass], you really feel your body radiating warmth from a good whisky.

The experience of it, the color of it. Like I'm not saying I'm obsessed, but I really like it. [Chuckles] And I like that it takes time. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, and takes time, and tradition. The fact that scotch has such close ties with Scotland, and with literally the earth that they [are in]. Talisker, for example, the reason it tastes like the ocean is because where they brew it, it has the ocean air blowing in all the time as it ages during the malting process. That, to me, it's the fine wine of whiskies.

Is there any whisky that you particularly enjoy around this time of the season?

Benjamin Walker: No, I think it has to be a nice whisky. That's what's unique about it is that it is a time of year when people come together to stop their lives, to do nothing but congregate and readjust their values. So much of our lives are about running and working as much as you can as fast as you can.

It's so rare that we have those moments where we just stop and savor, and whisky is the perfect reminder to do that. I think the best whisky for the holidays is one that you share. That sounds like a postcard, but it genuinely just came out of me. [Laughs] That's how I feel, you come together, everyone gets dressed up nice, you make your best meal, you present your best self, and you drink the best whisky.

I'm from Georgia in the South, and what we do is we eat, and then we sit and tell stories and catch up. The stories don't even have to be true, they just have to be entertaining, and then you sit around, and you spin a yarn. Whisky is the perfect lubricant for that.

Whisky can also be paired well with cocktails, but there are some people who prefer it just straight. What is your preference? Do you prefer it straight, or do you not mind the odd cocktail?

Benjamin Walker: I don't mind the odd cocktail. Alright, this is where I sound like snob, if it's really good whisky, maybe put an ice cube in it, but the work's already been done. Enjoy what's there in front of you. I like a cocktail, but my preference is if it ain't broke, don't fix it. [Chuckles]

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Benjamin Walker Interview: LOTR Rings of Power

This does have fantasy themes to it, and of course, you are very entrenched in that world right now. I read that filming was either just about to start, or was kicking back up again for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2. How's it coming along?

Benjamin Walker: JD and Patrick, our showrunners, are really hitting the ground running. One of the greatest joys of my job is that I get to read and study Tolkien and get paid for it, and they are covering some ground. It's very, very exciting. It also feels like, because we shot the first season in New Zealand, and now we're here in the UK filming the second, but it does feel like as soon as you put on the wardrobe and the wig and ears, you blink, and it's like you've never left. Because I've always been a fan, and because it is such a part of my life, it does feel like I never left. That feels good, and yeah, I'm glad to be working, and I'm incredibly fortunate to be working on this.

It sounds like I'm doing a thing, but stories are what you share. Whisky's what you share. The finer things in life are meant to be shared with loved ones. I was so lucky that he did that, that was something that he loved, and he passed that on to me, and look at how it's benefited my life. The things that you love are meant to be passed on so that they can live and augment other people's lives. That's the beauty of Tolkien, and the beauty of storytelling, and hell, the beauty of whisky.

You got to start writing some of these down for postcards to sell, I'm telling you, you're gonna make some extra money!

Benjamin Walker: I know that's what it sounds like but, you know, I mean, why did they pick me? I think because I'm passionate about it.

That's great, that's what they want from a spokesperson, and of course, you want to be equally passionate about what you're promoting.

Benjamin Walker: I mean, there's so many times — to be frank with you, we just did this big press tour for the first season, and I've done press for projects before, and a lot of the time you're just making it up. The cast is pretending to like each other, everyone's pretending to have a really good time, but with this group, on this job, every day is a kind of pinch me day, where you just go, "I can't actually believe I'm here, now let's get to work." You focus on it, and then when they call cut, you go back to, "What just happened?".

I spent the weekend catching up on season 1, and I was blown away by it, I loved it from start to finish.

Benjamin Walker: Dude, episode 6? Man, I knew what was gonna happen, and it blew my hair back.

Episode 6 was a wild one to see. I had heard inklings of it ahead of time, but I didn't actually know, and then I was like, "Wow, that was big!"

Benjamin Walker: Well, I don't know what can I say about season 2 without getting in trouble. If you liked that, you're gonna love what we're doing now. You're gonna be very happy.

Gil-galad was very much a supporting character in season 1, but then he also offered some pretty heavy warnings to Galadriel and Elrond at the end. Can we look forward to seeing him play a bigger part in season 2 now that his concerns have come to pass?

Benjamin Walker: Here's what I can say. If you're familiar with the legendarium, you know that we got a long way to go, and he's very much a part of that. It's so frustrating, because I want to just talk to you about it. [Laughs] Yeah, you're gonna be very happy, it's exciting stuff, and I'm very excited to do the things that I get to do.

About DIAGEO's Special Whisky Collection

This fall DIAGEO launched the 2022 edition of its Special Releases Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection: Elusive Expressions. The collection is made up of seven exquisite scotch whiskies that are inspired by the stories of mythological and mysterious creatures, pushing the boundaries of flavor.

The collection includes:

• The dark, sweet, and rich Mortlach, with gingery depth, unique to the Speyside Dufftown distillery
• A lively sweet expression of The Singleton of Glen Ord, aged in refill American and European Oak, then double matured in wine-seasoned casks
• A true expression of Lagavulin, matured in a combination of virgin oak casks and our smokiest reserves
• Talisker 11-Year-Old, elemental yet also classic in character with maritime malty smokiness notes
• An unusual Clynelish with just a slight trace of waxiness and added sweetness and spiciness from a maturation in refill American Oak, then finished in PX/Oloroso seasoned casks
• A rare expression of Cardhu, finished in Jamaican Rum casks for a vibrant tropical sweetness
• The creamy smooth Oban 10-Year-Old with richly sweet fruitiness, light smoke and salt notes
• And for the first time ever, the rich and exquisite Cameronbridge 26-Year-Old

Check out our previous Rings of Power interviews with:

• Benjamin Walker
• Composer Bear McCreary
• Director Wayne Che Yip
• Tutti Music Partners
• VFX Producer Ron Ames
• Tyroe Muhafadin
• Charlie Vickers

Next: The Rings Of Power's Mithril Explains Sauron's War In Season 2The DIAGEO Special Releases Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection: Elusive Expressions is now available in stores while The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1 is streaming in its entirety on Prime Video.