Pull Up a Bar Stool

HI, FRIEND. MY NAME IS WALTON GOGGINS, A PARTNER AT MULHOLLAND DISTILLING. IT’S NICE TO MEET YOU.

Many of you might recognize me as Boyd Crowder from Justified, a show set in the heart of America’s Bourbon Country. While I don’t share Boyd’s penchant for outlaw behavior, we both enjoy a good drink. My favorite thing to do at the end of a long week is saddle up to a bar in some out-of-the-way locale and get into a conversation with a stranger. Those exchanges are so illuminating to me. So when my good friend Matt Alper asked me to join him in his quest to not only open a distillery, but fashion a space for which people could share drinks and stories, I jumped at the opportunity.

First, bartenders should know that we created our gin, vodka and whiskey for them. Matt committed himself to find a bottle that’s comfortable pouring or pulling from the rail, and they clock in at a higher proof so they hold up no matter what a mixologist throws at them. We are honored to give them a brand that won a unanimous Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for our New World Gin and Silver medals for both our American Whiskey and Vodka.

But at the core, Mulholland is about Matt’s and my friendship, about our relationship to our city and sharing our story with anyone who’ll listen. Matt and I have been friends for two decades, and I’ve always enjoyed sharing a glass of whiskey with him.

We possess a similar outlook on life, friendship, and fatherhood. I know him. I trust him. I DIG him.

We also enjoy a similar sense of design, a passion of mine—my home has been featured in Architectural Digest and the L.A Times. So, together with Matt and our good friend Tatum Kendrick of Studio Hus, we created the Mulholland Room in the heart of L.A.’s Arts District. We created an environment where people— be they bartenders, artists, or entrepreneurs—can share a drink and lovely conversation.

For Elmore Leonard’s Justified, so much of the story revolved around the characters’ consumption of whiskey, around which bottle was opened and consumed with whom, and what that meant—a compliment or an insult. Similarly, in the Mulholland Room, we can show who we are without having to utter a word.

You know, I think Boyd would enjoy the Mulholland Room. Boyd likes to experience the B-side of life. Some of my favorite scenes were when Boyd was drinking alone, his state of mind when no one was watching. It was in those moments I understood him most. I think he would very much enjoy a walk on the L.A. side.

And that’s what it’s all about. Experiences. Stories. Companions. It doesn’t matter where you live or where you are from. We make spirits for our friends … the ones we know and the ones we haven’t made yet.

Edited by Mathew Powers

Photos Courtesy of Mulholland Distilling