When Thomas Doherty Says ‘My Life’s Good,’ He Means It

The new campaign brings the Scottish whiskey—and with it, the Scottish Doherty—to Jamaica for its new single-malt; in the photos and corresponding ad spot, he meets up with Miss Universe Jamaica Miqueal-Symone Williams to explore the country’s coastline bars and beaches. Fittingly, the campaign is styled by Scottish-Jamaican menswear designer Nicholas Daley, whose dual heritage inspired the designs Doherty spots in the ad—subtle touches of tartan on the olive khakis and leather driving shoes, and a navy rugby shirt featuring both countries’ national flowers, the Scottish thistle and the Jamaican hibiscus.

At the mention of Jamaica, Doherty, who had been leaning back in his chair, snapped upright with a sudden thought. “Here’s a factoid for everyone,” he announced to the room, a single finger in the air, so authoritatively that his team of publicists and the bartenders turned to listen. “Did you know that millions of years ago, Jamaica and Scotland used to be beside each other?” This is actually not true, but Doherty, who was very excited to share this nugget of false intel, insisted I include it anyways: “Just put it in, it’s real!”

Anyways, once we got the actual geography of Pangea sorted away, Doherty sang Daley’s praises; he also happened to be wearing a head-to-toe workwear ensemble from the designer during our interview. “It’s actually a very quintessential kindness [in Scotland] to give jam or marmalade, and [Daley] brought his mom [to Jamaica]” during the shoot, Doherty recalled. “He told his mom that he was working with a Scottish actor, and his mom made a jar of jam to give to me. It’s just such an endearing, beautiful thing that you do in our family, in our culture.”

Despite gearing up for a week off, Doherty has a busy week ahead before his family arrives from Edinburgh and he returns to the world of man-eating plants in Little Shop. After our interview, he headed out to “a massive audition”; in his rare downtime, he’s reading George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris in London, bingeing National Geographic segments about the Roman Catholic papacy, and raising his “wee” new cockapoo puppy, Daisy Whiskey Doherty, whom I have no doubts will have a proper Scottish upbringing.

“I’m going to get a little tartan kilt for her,” Doherty said. “And, yeah—my life’s good.”