Celebritisation of spirits

Brangelina, Cliff Richard, John Malkovich, Jessica Sarah Parker and Kylie Minogue have all done it and our own Graham Norton too has got in on the act with his range of wines and gins – celebrities owning vineyards and spirits brands is nothing new.

A number of prominent celebrities in the US have launched their own versions of traditional spirits.

Actor George Clooney started his own brand to tap into the growing demand for tequila in the US and sold the company to Diageo for an estimated wallet-inflating $1 billion in August 2017, states market researcher euromonitor, while actor Matthew McConaughey also launched two whisky brands.

Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds did quite some research, it seems, before launching his Aviator gin onto an unsuspecting world before it too was snapped up by Diageo.

“I’ve tried every gin on the planet and Aviation is, hands down, the best,” he states modestly on Aviation’s website, “Also, I don’t recommend trying every gin on the planet. Stick with this one.”

And Bob Dylan has launched the first three expressions in his Heaven’s Door series comprising a blended double-barrel whiskey, a straight rye whiskey and a Tennessee Bourbon.

Not to be outdone Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston, the stars of Breaking Bad, launched Dos Hombres mescal.