Nowadays it seems like every celebrity has a bottle of alcohol on store shelves. Whether it’s Dwayne Johnson’s tequila or Nicki Minaj Moscato, there’s no shortage of celebrity backed alcohol to choose from. But just because there’s a celebrity name attached to the label, doesn’t mean it’s a quality product. In fact, a lot of them are average, or downright bad, relying on the name recognition and marketing to carry sales.
That being said, there are a number of bottles that are actually quite good. While it may be rare, the celebrity bottles that do make the cut tend to offer up something unique, and a high quality product worth considering as your next purchase.
Here are a few celebrity brand spirits that we believe are well worth your time.
Casamigos Tequila
We had to start with the obvious one. George Clooney launched this brand in 2013, and while yes, it was sold to Diageo for an astounding amount of money ($1B to be exact) it is still very much associated with Clooney, regardless of his now limited involvement. But here’s the thing, it’s good Tequila. The Blanco is a double gold winner and the Reposado is smooth and silky. Casamigos comes at a high price point, but it can compete with other premium tequilas in its price range.
Teremana Tequila
A fairly new addition to the tequila category, Teremana comes from Dwayne Johnson and it really does seem like he cares about the quality of the spirit. We’ve reviewed this tequila in depth before, but at the end of the day it’s a solid tequila option at a surprisingly reasonable price point. Johnson made the smart move of playing in a mid-range category, rather than premium or ultra-premium, making it more accessible to people who might be interested in a tequila backed by The Rock himself.
Crystal Head Vodka
You’ve very likely seen this vodka on shelves because the glass skull is hard to ignore. From SNL alum, and ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd, there’s more to this vodka than just the unique bottle. Made from Canadian corn, it is distilled four times into a neutral grain spirit and blended with water from Newfoundland. The vodka is then filtered seven times, of which three are through layers of semi-precious crystals known as Herkimer diamonds. Is it all a bit ridiculous? Yes, but you can’t argue with the final product, and it makes a great showpiece on the home bar.
Moneybag Vodka
When Kiss’ Gene Simmons launches a vodka, you know it’s going to be a bit extra. Crafted in Niagara with 100% Canadian wheat, this is a five time filtered vodka that goes through actual gold and carbon filtration in the process. Does a vodka need to go through a gold filtration process? No, but when did Gene Simmons ever follow the norm. At the end of the day, it’s a very solid vodka with a clean and smooth finish, exactly what you want from a vodka. The price point is extremely low for a vodka that drinks this well, so it’s a no brainer purchase.
Aviation Gin
Yes this gin existed well before the Ryan Reynold’s endorsement, but it’s hard to ignore the significant boost in brand recognition he’s brought to the label. The nice thing about this partnership is it’s actually good gin regardless of Reynold’s being in the picture or not. Reynold’s reportedly made $610M off the sale off Aviation Gin to Diageo in 2020, not bad for only backing the product for less than three years.
Heaven’s Door Whiskey
You’d be forgiven if you had no idea Heaven’s Door Whiskey had any celebrity attachment at all; in fact, we’d be surprised if Bob Dylan even knew he had a whiskey to his name. Dylan has never once publicly commented on Heaven’s Door, leaving us to question his awareness of its existence. But, that being said, Heaven’s Door is a premium product and perhaps one of the best available celebrity spirits on the market. They make a straight rye, straight bourbon and a double barrel whiskey, all of which are excellent.
Singani 63
This one is interesting, and a passion project for director Steven Soderbergh. When filming 2008’s Che in Bolivia, Soderbergh was introduced to Singani, the country’s national distilled spirit, and couldn’t stop drinking it. Singani is only produced in the high valleys of Bolivia, from muscat grapes grown at a minimum altitude of 5,250 feet. Currently it’s labeled a a brandy, but that’s not technically accurate; think of it more like a single origin Pisco and something definitely worth trying.
Ale/Sessions 