Have we reached peak celebrity booze? Here’s our rundown of the brands that are actually worth the hype

But beyond just slapping their name on a bottle, the following stars have actually taken a keen interest in their new side gig, showing a great deal of care for what goes into the final product. Read on for our overview. 

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Miraval

The French chateau owned by former couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie has been producing award-winning rosés since 2012. Last month, the brand revealed a $390 rosé Champagne called Fleur de Miraval. 

The limited first edition release, consisting of 20,000 bottles, will be launched in the US mid-October.”Miraval isn’t a ‘celebrity’ wine for me,” Brad Pitt told People. “Above all, it’s a wonderful, exceptional estate that I fell in love with, and that I continue to invest in to make it one of the finest estates in Provence.”

George Clooney, Casamigos 

The actor, activist and humanitarian (and “Amal Clooney’s husband”) partnered up with nightlife entrepreneur (and husband to Cindy Crawford) Rande Garber andreal-estate mogul Mike Meldman to create this tequila that’s made in Jalisco, Mexico back in 2013. 

“What was really important for George and I was that we have the best tequila, but we make it affordable for everyone,” Garber told Business Insider in 2017. “George doesn’t need the money, I didn’t need it, Mike didn’t need it — it wasn’t the reason behind launching a tequila. We wanted everyone to be able to drink it and not be exclusive.”. That same year, the company sold to liquor company Diageo for a cool $1 billion.

Per Clooney, in an email to CNBC at the time the sale was announced: “If you asked us four years ago if we had a billion dollar company, I don’t think we would have said yes. (…) But we’re not going anywhere. We’ll still be very much a part of Casamigos. Starting with a shot tonight. Maybe two.”

Bob Dylan, Heaven’s Door Whiskey

In 2015, Bob Dylan filed for a trademark on the term “bootleg whiskey”, catching the eye of liquor entrepreneur Marc Bushala. 3 years later, Dylan’s collection of small-batch American whiskeys was born. Aptly named Heaven’s Door, the range includes a Tennessee Straight Bourbon, Double Barrel Whiskey, and Straight Rye Whiskey finished in cigar barrels from the Vosges, France, and each bottle features design elements from Bob Dylan‘s unique ironwork sculptures.

Since launching in 2018, the brand has been lauded on a global scale, garnering more than 35 global accolades at premier spirits awardsincluding the 2019 London Spirits Competition, where Heaven’s Door Double Barrel Whiskey was named “Whisky of The Year”, “Spirit of The Year by Quality”, “Spirit of The Year by Value” and “Best in Show”. We guess we could say success came… knocking (we’ll show ourselves out).

Kate Hudson, King St. Vodka

Actress, author and entrepreneur Kate Hudson launched King St. Vodka in November 2019. A true labor of love, King St. is distilled seven times in small batches in Santa Barbara, is gluten-free and uses alkaline water, producing a vodka that is extra smooth and clean – and ideal for mixing into cocktails.

Inspired by memories of hosting friends at her former home on King Street in New York City, Hudson wanted to create a spirit for every experience; one that represented quality and fun, and is perfect for toasting all of life’s most celebratory occasions.

“I have always found the spirits industry fascinating, and I love Dirty Vodka Martinis. The creative side of me thought it would be a fun challenge to develop a vodka for my palate, and in a beautiful package that I would love to have on my bar and share with friends. The businessperson in me is now looking forward to the challenge of building a brand in an entirely new industry,” said Hudson. Here’s to more inspiring women shaking up the booze business.

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, Dos Hombres

In July 2019, the Breaking Bad co-stars took the world by storm when they announced their latest collaboration on Instagram: a craft mezcal brand they had been secretly working on for the past 3 years. Dos Hombres is the product of an extensive search for the perfect mezcal: real, artisanal, and made by hand in Mexico.

Per their post’s caption: “So, we started traveling to Oaxaca to see if we could find it, and we mean it had to be “it,” something so damn good even people who don’t think they like Mezcal will love it. It had to be perfect or we weren’t going to do it. We searched high and low all over Oaxaca, met incredible people along the way and after a beautiful yet grueling search throughout that majestic landscape we believed we may have found our place. Our Mezcal. It was on a dirt-road, in tiny village, hours away from the center of town, we found it and it was perfect. Holy shit it was perfect. We looked at each other and just simply nodded. This is it. We named it Dos Hombres – two guys on a quest.”

The result is a unique blend of the finest Espadin agave, hand-selected from the hillsides of a small village in Oaxaca.

Ryan Reynods, Aviation Gin 

Aviation Gin has been around for a minute: the boutique gin brand was launched by the highly respected House Spirits Distillery in Portland, Oregon, back in 2006. In February 2018, superstar actor (and funniest man on social media) Ryan Reynolds announced on Twitter: “In the long and in no way disastrous marriage of showbiz and alcohol, so happy to announce I’m the proud owner of a gin company… @AviationGin”. 

The press release confirmed Reynolds pursued the investment after tasting Aviation Gin for the first time the year prior.At the bottom of the release, his brand new corporate email address was provided, which was set up to fire out the following out of office response: 

“Thank you for your email and interest in Aviation American Gin! I’m away from my desk at the moment but will respond the moment they give me a desk. About a year ago, I tried Aviation for the first time. Since that day, I’ve spent my time finding some way to infiltrate the company. I did this for one simple reason: It’s the best damn gin on the planet. Period. My responsibilities here at the company are vast. I’ll spend my days being photographed intermittently clinching my jaw muscles while pointing at things and nodding. I’ll drink Aviation Gin. I’ll sit in board meetings, imagining my very own Red Wedding. I don’t know whose idea it was to allow me into the gin business, but I can assure you, there are smarter, more reasonable people in charge. Thank you again for your email… If the matter is urgent, please contact my secretary, Bruce, who’ll respond the moment I get a secretary named, Bruce.”

Beyond acting as the face of the gin, Ryan Reynolds is said to play “an active role in the day-to-day business and oversees creative direction as part of his mission to introduce the world to the great taste of Aviation.”.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Teremana Tequila

Yes, there’s already a tequila brand on the list, but we know passion when we see it (and we just couldn’t do The Rock like that). In October 2019, the actor announced he’d be launching his own label, Teremana Tequila, writing on his Instagram: ”TERA is meant to represent “Terre” which means of the earth and MANA is our powerful Polynesian spirit that guides us. Spirit of the earth. Our goal is to create a tequila that is the best of quality and taste, but done the right way – by hand. Small batch, hand crafted tequila from our Teremana blue agave, maturing in the highlands of Jalisco, for everyone to enjoy. After years of hard work, this blessing is truly a dream come true – but it’s just the beginning and there’s much work to be done. I’m committed with my team to bring you the best tequila, because quality and legacy are what matter most.”

On the market (and flying off shelves) since March 2020, the premium, small batch tequila comes in blanco and reposado varieties and is made from 100% pure blue weber highland agave, which is slow-roasted in small traditional brick ovens and distilled in handmade copper pot stills. The blanco has a fresh and smooth palate with flavors of agave, citrus, and pineapple, while the reposado is aged in oak barrels and has a rich taste with notes of oak and vanilla.