A-list booze crews: A critic puts celebrity alcohol brands to the test

From Timberlake’s trippy tequila to gin fit for a Queen and Jay-Z’s Moet-approved champagne, Douglas Blyde pops the bottle on the booze with serious star power, while Marissa DeSantis rounds up the celebrity alcohol tribes
Kylie Minogue Wines

"Come quickly, I am tasting stars!” exclaimed Dom Pierre Pérignon in 1693, upon discovering how delightful still champagne tasted when imbued with a straight-to-the-bloodstream bubble.

But would the Benedictine monk feel glee were he to taste the drinks endorsed by today’s sparkly cele­brities? In the name of research, I wet my whistle …

Jay-Z’s Armand de Brignac Blanc de Noirs Assemblage A3

Dave Benett

(£1,095, harrods.com)

★★★★★

Armand de Brignac debuted in Jay-Z’s 2006 Show Me What You Got music promo, its arrival hastened in retaliation to the remark by Cristal Champagne’s MD, Frederic Rouzaud, who, when asked if he thought an association with rappers would harm his brand, retorted: “A good question, but what can we do?” Moet Hennessy has bought a 50% stake in Jay-Z’s Ace of Spades (known as such because of the label), so I’d say the rapper has had the last laugh.

Although thriving as a super-­premium party fizz, with the core Gold version coming in a whopping “Melchizedek” equivalent to 40 bottles, they also make a more muted secret weapon for wine collectors. Limited to 3,535 bottles, Blanc de Noirs Assemblage A3 celebrates pinot noir from top vineyards such as the wonderfully named village Bouzy.

Jean-Jacques Cattier is the chef de cave of the eponymous champagne house behind Armand de Brignac, which predates the French Revolution. I’m inclined to agree with his description of the “richness, intensity and length” of this “gourmet wine”. And aside from an alarming RRP equivalent to £1.46 per millilitre (Harrods), my only irk is with the cuvée’s name, which suggests a scale of paper. Call me cheapskate, but my favourite cuvée from Jay-Z remains the purple bottle of honeyed demi-sec which you can get three of for the price of one A3.

Kylie Minogue’s Rosé 2019, Côtes de Provence

kylie minogue rose

(£18, winedelivered.co.uk)

★★★

Encapsulated in a bell-shaped bottle with a clear resemblance to Miraval, Kylie Minogue launched Côtes de Provence, her second, more premium pink, this year. Produced at Château des Anglades west of St Tropez, I wish I could say that like her popular persona it’s a juicy, happy thing. However, the truth is, beyond the pretty pink hue, the liquid is utterly unremarkable. With 34 top tens and seven number ones to her name, as well as the French government bestowed L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Kylie Minogue OBE took a foray into wine after being inspired by Whispering Angel.

Kylie Minogue Wines

It is produced with the same firm that looks after the vinous releases of Sir Ian Botham. While wine buff Botham is involved in the blending of his wines, it’s unclear how much Minogue got involved in hers beyond the packaging.

Trump Cru Chardonnay

U.S. President Donald Trump makes an appearance at the Republican National Convention in Charlotte
Reuters

(£26, trumpwinery.com)

0 stars

Trump Winery is the largest estate in Virginia and is presided over by Eric Trump — son of you-know-who — who, according to the website, “oversees everything from winemaking and marketing to global distribution and sales”. An “aperitif” wine described by the maker as brimming with “deep fresh aromas, with flavors of pear, citrus, bourbon, and toasted almonds”, CRU is a gateway for whiskey drinkers toning down to wine. Chardonnay juice is bolstered with chardonnay brandy before the mixture gathers more alcoholic prowess in bourbon barrels. At 18 per cent, the result can work “equally well neat”, we’re told, or you can try it as a “CRUllini” with a dose of peach schnapps. Although Trump might describe the results as “fake news”, the $34 CRU was, for me, an obnoxious sip, reeking of old gloss paint, while Trump’s red wines evoked fields during stubble burning. However, the Blanc de Blancs fizz was agreeable.

HRH Queen Elizabeth II’s Buckingham Palace Gin

Buckingham Palace gin

(£40, royalcollectionshop.co.uk)

★★★★★

Buckingham Palace Gin delighted the subjects — the bottles sold out online within eight hours. I secured a teeny sample with big contents, best enjoyed as a traditional, albeit lockdown-strength G&T with a little foamy Schweppes and ripe lemon slice. Florally packaged, at 42 per cent, the gin was sufficiently confident to be buoyant beyond the bubbles, its touches of lemon verbena, hawthorn, bay and mulberry from the palace’s 40 species of mulberry tree being mesmerising, heightened by thoughts of the timeless haven of a royal garden. Priced at £40, with profits to conserve The Royal Collection of Art, this gin was no vanity production but a sip fit for a Queen. We sincerely hope the Queen’s gin and I will meet again soon.

Justin Timberlake’s 901 Silver Tequila

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(£24.95, thewhiskyexchange.com)

★★★★

Timberlake was eyeing up agave plants as far back as 2009. His incarnation is Sauza 901, named after both his hometown area code (Memphis, Tennessee) and the point in the evening when he says things get interesting: 9.01pm. 901 was made at the Destilleria Santa Lucia until 2014 when spirits giant Beam Suntory made Timberlake an offer to allow him to bring the tequila to even more fans. Trippy advertising campaigns ensued, including a requiem for limes, given the clear tequila is apparently so smooth it needs nothing more than ice and a glass. While the Sauza version is indeed spotlessly smooth, I like the relative heritage of the old version from Santa Lucia (and you can still find a few bottles at The Whisky Exchange).

Justin Timberlake tequila

George Clooney’s Casamigos Añejo Tequila

Getty Images for Hulu

(£64.95, thewhiskyexchange.com)

★★★★

George Clooney and friend Rande Gerber, husband of Cindy Crawford, launched Casamigos in 2013, initially for their personal pleasure. Despite the suave celebrity pedigree, the humbleness of the Casamigos bottle feels charming. Fast forward four years, and Clooney sold it for a reported $1 billion, a fact Ryan Reynolds referenced when apologising to wife Blake Lively for only flogging his Aviation Gin for $610m. Of the range, comprising Reposado, Añejo and Blanco tequilas as well as a Mezcal which is rare on these shores, I favour Añejo, aromatic and textured, which spends 14 months in softening oak. Clooney served it over vanilla ice-cream at his wedding.

David Beckham’s Haig Club Clubman

(£16, tesco.com)

★★★

The official whisky of Inter Miami (also part-owned by David Beckham) is intended to appeal to the broadest of consumers, hence they give permission to add cola or ginger ale, or shake it in a cocktail, unlike premium single malts. I’m even tempted to marinade pork tenderloin in it before introducing it to my mega Kamado Joe BBQ.

Haig Club

Evoking, not in a bad way, a massive vial of aftershave, I liked the squat, Bristol blue, textured bottle. With no age statement, it is produced presumably quite quickly at the Cameronbridge distillery at Windygates, Fife, the largest and oldest grain distillery in Europe. Does Beckham himself drink drams of it with Posh? Unlikely. Is it the most refined taste? Definitely not, though it’s better than it needs to be for the price, achieving a voluptuous mouthfeel and friendly, mixable flavours of plasticine, vanilla and coconut arising from slumber in former bourbon casks.

@DouglasBlyde

You’ve launched a fashion collaboration, lent your perfume preferences to a fragrance or two and even snagged that Pepsi commercial. What’s next on the ascension to true A-lister? Concocting your own alcohol for the masses, of course.

But which booze to choose? Marissa DeSantis rounds up the alcohol tribes.

The Wine Sophisticates

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From the fairly-fitting like actress Sarah Jessica Parker’s Invivo X sauvignon blanc to the more out-of-place like rapper Post Malone’s Maison No. 9 Rosé, wine snobs have a lot of celeb-created bottles to taste test.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made one of the biggest investments in their wine company when they purchased Château Miraval estate and vineyard in the south of France in 2008. The couple debuted their first rosé in 2012, and though they separated in 2016, Pitt and Jolie have remained partners when it comes to Miraval - they even have a rosé champagne currently in the works.

Then there’s Kylie Minogue, who may be new to the world of celebrity-owned rosé, but has already made her mark. Less than three months after Kylie Minogue Wines made its UK debut with its £9 bottle of Vin de France Rosé at Tesco, she introduced her second (slightly pricier at £18) wine, Côtes de Provence Rosé, with plans to launch in the US later this year.

Beyoncé-approved Bubbly

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The celeb-liquor credit can’t be entirely attributed to Diddy. In 2006, Jay-Z invested in champagne brand, Armand de Brignac, after the manager of Cristal referred to the rap world’s love of their champagne as “unwelcome attention.”

Since then, Jay-Z and Beyoncé have served the champagne (which can run up to $1,000 a bottle) at a fundraiser event for then-President Barack Obama and the 2020 Golden Globes when they decided to BYOB. Jay-Z was reported as having officially purchased Armand de Brignac in 2014, with Forbes estimating the company’s value at $310 million in 2019.

A Partygoer’s Approach

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Actress Kate Hudson broke into the male-dominated vodka industry in 2019 with the launch of her California-distilled King St. Vodka so you can make your next vodka soda gluten-free and non-GMO.

But if tequila’s more your taste, there are plenty to pick from. George Clooney’s Casamigos, which is the most well-known celebrity-tequila venture, has also been given the best-tasting reviews. The actor founded the company in 2013, collecting $1 billion with his two co-founders when they sold Casamigos less than five years later (don’t worry, Clooney is still part of the brand).

Justin Timberlake offers a similarly priced tequila with his Sauza 901, as does fellow boyband-er Nick Jonas, who co-founded Villa One Tequila in 2018. And you can’t count out The Rock who launched his own line of liquor with Teremana Tequila in early 2020.

The Gentlemen’s Drink

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It turns out a whiskey neat or gin and tonic isn’t just the drink of choice for your uncle. The two also have an A-list backing.

David Beckham launched his Haig Club Whiskey in 2014, making the blue bottle the official whiskey of his American soccer club in 2020. There are also music-inspired whiskey options if that’s more your vibe with Bob Dylan’s Heaven’s Door Whiskey and Willie Nelson’s Old Whiskey River.

And on the gin front, there’s Ryan Reynolds, who was a fan of Aviation American Gin himself before becoming a co-owner in 2018. Helping to push the brand to more success with his clever commercials, Reynolds earned $610 million when he sold Aviation Gin in 2020.

Beer Bros

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Sixteen years after they released their hit ‘MMMBop,’ the Hanson brothers branched out to beer with the cleverly titled MMMHops. Other bands like Hootie & the Blowfish and Iron Maiden have ventured into brews, but none has rivaled Hanson, who created six varieties with their Oklahoma-based Hanson Brothers Beer Company since its launch in 2013.

The Wild Cards

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If you’re the sort who can’t be labeled, you can still profit at the local liquor store. Take Danny DeVito’s Premium Limoncello or Marilyn Manson’s Mansinthe (yes, an absinthe), as inspiration for your spirited venture.