Stars and Their Sips

SPIRITS stars and their sips

IMPECCABLE TASTE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL IMAGINATION HAVE LED THESE WELL-KNOWN GENTLEMEN INTO THE BOOZE BUSINESS. HERE ARE THE THREE “CELEBRITY” LIQUORS WORTH TRYING By Darius Amos

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RYAN REYNOLDS Aviation American Gin

In most cases, the after-1 a.m. crowd at your local bar can’t distinguish the merits of a good cocktail, so their gin-and-tonics are often mixed using the house liquor. That’s passable for last call, but those with a more discernible palate who order martinis with dinner or drink the spirit neat at home know better. And Christian Krogstad and Ryan Magarian gave them better in 2006 when they first produced what is now called Aviation American Gin (Aviation, for short) in Portland, Oregon. Its flavor starts with heavy rye and lavender and is followed with juniper, cardamom and orange. Wine Enthusiast magazine once gave it a 97-point rating, the highest grade it had ever bestowed upon a gin. That caught the attention of Canadian actor and gin aficionado Ryan Reynolds, who bought a stake in the premium liquor company in 2018 and retained his minority ownership when the British spirits giant Diageo bought the brand last year for $610 million. Double-R remains the face of the brand (not a bad-looking face), appearing in multiple places on the gin’s website. What’s also handsome are the gin’s Art Deco-inspired bottle and flask-like silhouette.

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY Wild Turkey Bourbon

There are many stops along both the American whiskey and Kentucky bourbon trails, but few have the panache of the Wild Turkey Distilling Co. It’s a spirit enjoyed by all types—from lads taking their first sip at age 21 to seasoned executives unwinding after a day of board meetings. It’s likely Wild Turkey is their drink of choice because of the bourbon’s long reputation as a full-bodied quaff with flavorful toffee and coffee notes. Sure, this spirit sells itself, but executives at the 81-year-old company still brought in a sexy face, actor Matthew McConaughey, in 2016 for a boost. As the new creative director, McConaughey teamed up with master distiller Eddie Russell on a smallbatch bourbon with a taste o’ Texas— they called it Wild Turkey Longbranch. The Academy Award winner’s signature even appears on the bottle, the first time a name other than Eddie’s and Jimmy Russell’s was front and center. And the taste (well-balanced with notes of honey and orange) is also award-winning: It captured double gold in the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

DWAYNE JOHNSON Teremana Tequila

Actor and retired wrestler Dwayne Johnson knows plenty about success: He’s conquered the world of sports entertainment and continues to put out nonstop box-office hits. But what does “The Rock” know about tequila? Well, unlike Reynolds and McConaughey, Johnson built his brand, Teremana Tequila, from the ground up. After years of hard work and experimentation, Teremana (derived from the Latin root meaning “earth” and the Polynesian word for “spirit”) launched in 2019 with a small-batch, handcrafted tequila using blue agave matured in the highlands of the Mexican state of Jalisco. Crisp on the palate with hints of agave, lemon zest and vanilla, it makes the perfect drink to toast with friends. Even better is Johnson’s insistence on sustainable production practices—100 percent of the leftover agave fibers are used as an organic fertilizer in the agave fields, while wastewater from manufacturing is filtered for reuse.