This is a partnered post.
It’s the lead up to GRAMMY’s week and Los Angeles is alive. Parties and events take over every club and event space, and celebrity sightings are at an all-time high in preparation for music’s biggest night. At the Revery in Chinatown - an APPI woman-founded multi-use venue – Bulleit Frontier Whiskey opened the doors to its own event. A first for the whiskey brand, this was an ambitious environmentally conscious film premiere to celebrate its new film – “A Toast To The Times”.
The short film is a celebration of those living on the frontier of culture and was produced in collaboration with spoken word poet, J. Ivy, who would collect his own GRAMMY trophy in the following days for the Best Spoken Word Album. The film forms part of the Bulleit Pioneer Project which was officially launched in December 2022 with a promise to champion and amplify those breaking new ground. The premiere itself featured the first screening of the film, Siobhan Bell on the decks and surprise performances from artists such as Col3trane; all presented within a unique environment in which every component of the celebration had been crafted with the Earth in mind. We attended the premiere of this new film to understand exactly what went into creating such an impressive planet-minded feat.
This isn’t the first time that Bulleit has made a bold commitment to sustainability. As Sophie Kelly, Senior Vice President of Whiskies at Diageo North America says, “We’ve reinvented category standards with our carbon-neutral distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky, which is powered by 100% renewable energy, and our zero-waste production at Shelbyville. Now we’re doubling down on this commitment through our marketing efforts. With this premiere, we’re sharing our new film with the world as well as a glimpse of what’s possible when you bring together a collection of people sitting on the frontier of sustainability and committed to change.” This collection of people that Kelly speaks of spans those driving sustainability innovation forward across food and drink, furniture design and waste management.
Leading the charge on the furniture was Jimmy DiResta. The furniture maker and builder has racked up an impressive social following for his handiwork and has worked with the brand for many years. For this film premiere, DiResta built a unique Bulleit bar using upcycled wood from an old family farm. The Bulleit logo was made from scrap metal sourced from a junkyard and welded onto the top of the bar. This bar will become a permanent fixture within Bulleit’s traveling inventory and used for future events.
As DiResta explains: “When I was told we were going to build an event that was all about recycle and reuse, I thought about how I could use doors as the tables. I just redid my front porch… so all the wood at the bar [over there] is all made from my front porch.”
Touched with the greenery of various flowers and succulents, doors were reworked into tables that folks could sit their drinks upon and embrace the resourceful decor. The speakers were draped with a Bulleit-tagged metal overcoat for attendees to graffiti their names and signatures as a legacy statement. Some wrote their own names, some poked fun at their presence by signing “average socialite,” and some even kindled the spirit of hip-hop with a gleaming silver tribute to MF DOOM’s iconic mask.
The drinks menu was spearheaded by Los Angeles-based mixologist, Stephanie Reading, known for her creative approach to sustainable cocktail creating. Reading tells me: “I really wanted to highlight the bourbon as well as sustainable produce”, which was evident in the innovative menu she conjured up. There were four hand-crafted cocktails, each a play on words relating to Bulleit’s commitment to being environmentally conscious – such as “Rye-cycle” featuring Bulleit Rye, super lime persimmon shrub, orgeat and Szechuan pepper honey served in a coconut husk (the coconut water featured in another drink on offer). Another top concoction was the “Pioneer Manhattan”, featuring Bulleit 10 Year Old in its American white oak barrel.
The conscientious food pairings for the night were curated by Michelin star Chef Joshua Gill based in Beverly Hills. Inspired by Bulleit’s “modern, technological and sustainable approach” to developing whiskey, Gill prepared a menu in the same spirit. “Bourbon has a very specific flavor profile, so I was building the menu around that while also knowing what’s available locally and what’s in season,” Gill tells me. For the event, he used ingredients sourced from within a 30-mile radius and the selection of bites included a bourbon fondue station paired with root vegetables and artisanal bread, as well as caviar fingerlings, crab tika sandwiches, porcini bread pudding and more.
Reading and Gill worked hand in hand to prepare these menus – utilizing not just the same ingredients, but the whole ingredient, an approach referred to as “root to stem” and minimizes food waste. Bulleit went one step further and worked with Compostable LA to ensure food waste from the event was collected at the end of the night and turned into a superfood compost to feed the soil across Los Angeles.
The commitment to sustainability shone through every facet of the event and was such a talking point that you almost forgot you were there to celebrate the unveiling of this new film. J. Ivy took to the stage to thank the 300-strong crowd for coming and to present his new film to the world. “This is about celebrating this amazing project, the Bulleit Pioneer Project, which is all about the people in this room.” Ivy said. “It’s all about the dreamers, it’s all about the innovators, it’s all about those who are unafraid to move forward with their purpose.” ‘A Toast To The Times’ is a heartfelt collage of hope and unrelenting spirit, inspired by the wisdom that is “weaved in us” and a testament to “the monumental moments we create.”
J.Ivy is one of the many independent artists within the UnitedMasters portfolio and the night included appearances from more of the company’s talent, including Col3trane, Siobhan Bell and DJ OHSO. Also welcomed to the stage was Dailyn Santana, who was crowned the winner of the Bulleit Remix Challenge in December 2022, after penning lyrics to a J.Ivy beat as part of a nationwide social media contest. Santana got the chance to perform at this event, as well as 1:1 mentorship time with J.Ivy through the Bulleit 100-Hour Commitment.
To round off the evening, Mobile Vinyl Recorders were on site, burning J.Ivy’s poetry piece onto vinyls for each guest to take home. A permanent reminder of J.Ivy’s important words about pushing boundaries, as well as a souvenir of what’s possible when leaders in sustainability come together on a mission to push past what’s expected in pursuit of what can be.