DRINKING WITH

DRINKING

WITH THE STARS

Celebrities are sprinkling some of their magic dust on the drinks industry, not only through advertising and the drinks industry, not only through advertising and endorsements but also by launching their own brands endorsements but also by launching their own brands

Written by Peter Ranscombe

Few phrases strike more fear into my heart than the dreaded term ‘celebrity culture’. Whether it’s my heart than the dreaded term ‘celebrity culture’. Whether it’s magazines full of stories concocted magazines full of stories concocted by publicists about who’s dating who, by publicists about who’s dating who,

‘reality’ television shows in which people ‘reality’ television shows in which people become famous for simply appearing on become famous for simply appearing on the gogglebox, or the never-ending scroll of the gogglebox, or the never-ending scroll of

‘infl uencers’ on social media, it appears that ‘infl uencers’ on social media, it appears that there’s no escaping the cult of the A-listers.there’s no escaping the cult of the A-listers

The drinks industry hasn’t evaded the onslaught of the rich and famous either. onslaught of the rich and famous either.

From simply promoting drinks through to From simply promoting drinks through to owning their own brands, celebrities are owning their own brands, celebrities are leaving an indelible mark across categories as diverse as whisky, gin and wine.

One of the most high-profi le ‘partnerships’ is between retired footballer David Beckham and Haig Club, the single grain Scotch whisky brand launched in 2014 by Diageo, Scotland’s largest distiller and the owner of Gordon’s gin, Guinness stout and Smirnoff vodka. ‘Think of Haig Club and you think of David Beckham – not because of clever marketing or glossy advertising campaigns – but because David is a brand partner in every sense of the word,’ trumpets the whisky’s website.

leaving an indelible mark across categories as diverse as whisky, gin and wine.

One of the most high-profi le ‘partnerships’ is between retired footballer David Beckham and Haig Club, the single grain Scotch whisky brand launched in 2014 by Diageo, Scotland’s largest distiller and the owner of Gordon’s gin, Guinness stout and Smirnoff vodka. ‘Think of Haig Club and you think of David Beckham – not because of clever marketing or glossy advertising campaigns – but because David is a brand partner in every sense of the word,’ trumpets the whisky’s website.

From left: Haig Club; David Beckham (credit: Andrea Raffin).

Clockwise from far left: Ryan Reynolds is an investor in Aviation Gin; Phoebe Waller-Bridge has teamed up with Edinburgh Gin to produce Fleabag Gin; US Actor Nick Offerman created his own series of whiskies with Lagavulin; Colin Montgomerie endorsed Loch Lomond’s The Open Special Edition in 2019.

Setting aside the fact that Beckham’s globetrotting to promote the whisky at events is both a form of marketing and advertising, the former England and Manchester United captain’s connections and social media following have helped to take grain whisky from its niche into the mainstream – even if one of its earlier selling points was that it could be mixed with cola. The huge success of the brand – with its distinctive perfume-like blue bottle – has also put the noses of many Fifers out of joint as it’s now apparently much harder to get its forerunner, the competitively-priced Cameron Brig single grain whisky, on the optics in local pubs.

Beckham and Haig Club aren’t the only game in town when it comes to roping celebrities into promoting Scotch. After being a lifelong fan of Lagavulin, Nick Offerman – star of US comedy series Parks & Recreation – was invited by Diageo to create his own series of whiskies following Skype blending sessions with distillery manager Colin Gordon, including a Guinness cask fi nish.

While actors are popular, other whisky distillers have opted to team up with sports stars, with Loch Lomond targeting golfers, through fi rst Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke before moving onto Lee Westwood. Glen Moray teamed up with John Barclay and Edinburgh Rugby for a special edition Scotch, while Finlay Calder has been the face of Mossburn Distillers’ Borders site as its project director, and David Sole is a brand ambassador for Balvenie.

Connections between celebrities and drinks brands extend far beyond Scotch. When he’s not buying football clubs like Wrexham, being praised for his quick wit on social media, or donning spandex to play Deadpool, actor Ryan Reynolds is the face of Aviation Gin.

Reynolds – who I’ll freely admit is my guycrush – bought shares in the gin maker in 2018 and received a healthy return on his investment when the company was sold to Diageo in 2020 for £460 million, with the actor agreeing to continue promoting the drink for ten years.

Closer to home, Edinburgh Gin has teamed up with actress and writer Phoebe WallerBridge to create a Fleabag Gin – marking her one-woman play’s connection to the city and raising money for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – while Eden Mill launched a series of six gins in partnership with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

Back across the pond and it’s tequila that’s attracting huge attention from celebs. Perhaps the most famous example is actor George Clooney’s Casamigos, the tequila brand he founded with entrepreneurs Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman in 2013.

The trio sold Casamigos for £790 million in 2017, again to Diageo. Utilising the spirits giant’s distribution network, sales have soared from 100,000 cases in 2017 to one million in 2020.

Clooney is just the tip of the tequila iceberg; Constellation Brands bought a minority stake in Dos Hombres, the mezcal label founded in 2019

SAM NEILL

Arguably best known for his role in Jurassic Park, actor Sam Neill’s pinot noirs from the Central Otago region in New Zealand are among the most widely-respected bottles produced from a celebrity-owned winery. Neill planted his first vines in 1993 and now has four small vineyards scattered across the region.

ANGELINA JOLIE & BRAD PITT

‘Brangelina’s’ ownership of Provence rosé Château Miraval has lasted longer than their marriage. The couple bought the estate in 2011 and were married at the site in 2014, before Jolie filed for divorce two years later. Ownership of Miraval has formed part of their lengthy divorce wranglings.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER

Building on its success with Norton, Invivo is also working with Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker on a range of wines. Like Norton, Parker gets involved in blending the remarkablycredible New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Her range now also includes a rosé from the South of France.

KYLIE MINOGUE

Like Parker’s sauvignon blanc, pop princess Kylie Minogue’s rosés have also impressed at supermarket wine tastings. Her brand is backed by wine distributor Benchmark Drinks and now also includes cava, Prosecco, merlot and sauvignon blanc. Her posher selection features a Margaret River chardonnay.

GRAHAM NORTON

Chat show host Graham Norton’s surreptitiouslyplaced glass of New Zealand sauvignon blanc became as much part of his BBC1 show as his ‘big red chair’. NZ winery Invivo approached Norton in 2011 and he has gone on to promote the wines and get involved with blending. He now owns shares in the business.

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA

The director of The Godfather bought his first vineyard in 1975 and went on to build an American wine empire, most of which he sold to Delicato Family Wines in 2021. Coppola has kept his iconic Inglenook winery at Napa Valley in California and Domaine de Broglie winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

From top: Crystal Head Vodka Original, Aurora and Onyx; Dan Aykroyd with Crystal Head Vodka (credit: Amanda Nikolic).

by Breaking Bad actors Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul. Then there’s Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria‘s Casa del Sol, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine’s Calirosa, and model Kendall Jenner’s 818.

Away from tequila, we have singers Bruno Mars’ SelvaRey rum, Mariah Carey’s Black Irish cream liqueur, and Ellie Goulding’s Served hard seltzer. And that’s before we get into the American whiskey scene, with actor Jamie Foxx’s Brown Sugar bourbon, fi lm star William H Macy’s co-ownership of Woody Creek Distillers, and Brother’s Bond, the bourbon label launched by The Vampire Diaries co-stars Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder.

Yet perhaps one of the strangest stories from the worlds of celebrities and booze comes from an icon of the 1980s. Ghostbusters legend Dan Aykroyd designed the distinctive bottle for Crystal Head vodka with artist John Alexander, with the pair making a big play based around their vodka’s purity, including the fact that it’s fi ltered through diamonds.