The 20 Best Celebrity Alcohol Brands

This past February, Kendall Jenner took to Instagram to reveal that for the past four years, she had been working on a tequila by visiting her distillery, taking blind taste tests and anonymously entering world tasting competitions and winning. Her alcohol was finally ready and it’s called 818 Tequila. It consists of the variants 818 Blanco, 818 Reposado and 818 Añejo. It’s being rolled out in select locations now, despite the controversy about Kendall appropriating Mexican culture and naming it after her Calabasas area code.

Though Armand de Brignac was considered to be new in the mid-2000s, in reality, it was just making its North American debut. And though JAY-Z bought the entire company in 2014, he has had a stake estimated to be worth $50 million in it since around 2006. Originally a Cristal drinker, JAY, like many, was turned off by Frederic Rouzaud which had racial undertones. In his own words, he “he switched gold bottles onto that Spade shit”.

This is widely respected as arguably the best celebrity alcohol brand on the market, another feather that Ryan Reynolds can add to his cap. Aviation American Gin has been around since 2006, but Reynolds acquired his stake in February of 2018. The amount wasn’t public, but it was clear it was significant, because he took an active role in the business as well as the creative direction. In the summer of last year, the gin company sold for a whopping $610 million.

Launched by George Clooney, Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman in 2013, the intention with Casamigos Tequila was originally to make a drink specific to their tastes and not for it to be a public success, but that’s what happened anyway. Eventually it became the fastest growing ultra-premium tequila in the States. In 2017, Diaego, the same company that bought the aforementioned Aviation American Gin, bought Casamigos for a massive $700 million, plus up to another $300 million based on their performance until 2027.

Since the 90s, Diddy has been known to be one of the best marketers on the planet. That’s why when Cîroc was struggling to move 40,000 cases of its vodka in the mid to late-2000s, they wanted the rapper and entrepreneur to hop on board. In a very short period of time, they were moving millions of cases annually. Today, Cîroc Vodka is one of Diddy’s main sources of income and a great asset to his net worth of nearly $1 billion.

When he was on a vacation in Los Cabos, during rounds of golf, George Strait and his friends would drink a tequila produced by a small family-owned distillery in Amatitán. They loved it so much that they started to purchased barrels of it for their own consumption. Then came the idea to buy the entire thing and to work with the family to produce it for the world. This happened in May of 2017 and ever since, it’s become a great success. He even has a song named after it.

Credit to Ludacris for getting into the alcohol business relatively early, in the grand scheme of things today anyway. Luda launched Conjure Cognac in the summer of 2009. He created it himself from a blend of over a dozen samples and his inspiration was to make something like one of his favourite drinks, Louis XIII, but for a more affordable price.

In November of 2006, legend Danny DeVito made an infamous appearance on The View where he was still a little drunk from the night before with George Clooney. He said “I knew it was the last seven limoncellos that was going to get me”, which he became the butt of some friendly jokes for. Turning a negative to a positive, he launched his own limoncello in May of 2007. It’s a 60-proof liqueur that’s genuinely top of the range.

Brian Cranston and Aaron Paul will be forever paired in our minds for the pair of classic roles they played on Breaking Bad, which many consider to this day to be the greatest TV series of all time. When they teased something on social media a few years back, fans assumed it was about the Breaking Bad film that was due. Instead, it was the launch of Dos Hombres, a brand they wanted people who didn’t even like Mezcal to like.

Haig Club was launched In 2014 with David Beckham as the face of the company. It’s described as a light and sweet single grain scotch whiskey. Beckham credited the experience with teaching him how whiskey is made and enjoyed best. In the years after his soccer career has ended, Haig Club has become one of his main business ventures.

Legend Bob Dylan was approached about a trademark he filed for “bootleg whiskey” by Marc Bushala, asking him for his pitch. The drink was released in 2018 and was partially named after a classic song of his (which you might know from the Guns ‘N’ Roses cover). Bushala raised $35 million for the project. Since the launch just over three years ago, they’ve entered new markets successfully, with people praising it as a premium whiskey.

Matthew McConaughey went about his own alcohol brand the right way. The actor spent years with Wild Turkey as a creative director, all the while working on his own whiskey. Longbranch launched to rave reviews and it was respected as a genuine competitor to other bourbons in its space, despite being a celebrity brand. You might remember some of the minimalistic commercials to promote this.

Post Malone surprised most last year when he announced the launch of his own wine. If anything, based on one of his album names, we expected him to have his own beer. Nonetheless, Maison No. 9 is a French rosé which was launched in the second quarter of last year. Post started getting into wine through Mark Wahlberg and was inspired to do his own thing after meeting James Morrissey.

Given that he is one of the biggest (figuratively and literally) stars on the planet, it felt like it was only a matter of time until The Rock got involved in the alcohol game.

Meaning "spirit of the Earth", Teremana aims to "create a high quality, responsibly sourced tequila that brings people together. One that starts conversations, creates laughter, and moments to appreciate those along with us on this journey of life."

Mulholland Distilling has been an incredible success for Walton Goggins who co-founded the L.A. company a few years ago with friend and cameraman Matthew Alper. The pair aim to capture the spirit of Los Angeles in a bottle and have done so with vodkas, gins and whiskeys, amongs others.

Some thought this was a cash grab when this was originally announced, and perhaps it was, but either way, it’s clear that The Notorious One was genuinely passionate about his Irish whiskey venture. It was worth it too. It recently sold for a deal worth up to $600 million.

Masvidal had been wanting to get into the alcohol business for a while, but there was no better time than after his win over Nate Diaz last year. Having to be conscious of what was going into his body as a professional athlete, he was impressed with Recuerdo’s process from start to finish. He also made it a point to become an owner as opposed to just a brand ambassador.

Justin Timberlake partnered with Sauza back in 2014 after he was inspired to create his own tequila after seeing it made in Jalisco, Mexico firsthand. The 901 tequila (which was named after the Memphis area code) can be served on the rocks or as part of a cocktail.

This is 50% a 10-year-old single malt Irish whiskey aged in sherry oak casks with a similarly old Irish whiskey aged in bourbon oak casks and 50% a four-year-old Irish grain whiskey aged in bourbon oak casks. It’s a unique blend that makes for a great Irish coffee.

Drake teamed with Deléon Tequila in 2016 to launch Virginia Black, a strong American whiskey. The brand was based on 70s nightlife and interestingly, was made 80-proof to help appeal to women too. It seemed to work, selling 30,000 cases in its first year.