Actors, musicians and athletes have put their names behind bourbon, Scotch, Irish whiskey and more. Here’s our guide to celebrity whiskey and the famous names behind the bottles.
Celebrity booze is nothing new, but celebrity whiskey has become an increasingly crowded corner of the spirits world. Actors, musicians and professional athletes have launched everything from sourced Kentucky bourbon to blended Scotch, Irish whiskey and some genuinely unique takes on American whiskey. Some celebrities become deeply involved in the creative process and take pride in crafting their own signature whiskeys, while others are merely partners or investors with a famous name and face. Although brands like SirDavis Whisky and The Sassenach have garnered respect and acclaim, many other celebrity whiskey brands have quietly disappeared almost as quickly as they arrived.
Here’s our complete guide to celebrity whiskey brands, including what’s still being poured, what’s on the back burner and who’s actually behind the bottle.
Bourbon
Brother's Bond Bourbon
After spending eight seasons playing bourbon-drinking brothers on The Vampire Diaries, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley turned the relationship into the real thing with Brother's Bond Bourbon. Launched in 2021, Brother's Bond began with a four-grain straight bourbon and has since expanded into cask-strength, bottled-in-bond and other offerings. Somerhalder and Wesley remain heavily involved with the brand, which has earned a following beyond fans of the actors and show.
Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder. Photo courtesy of Brother's Bond Bourbon.
Mr. & Mrs. Bourbon Company
Former Louisville basketball star Russ Smith co-founded Mr. & Mrs. Bourbon Company in 2019 after a career that included winning the 2013 NCAA National Championship and playing professionally in the NBA and overseas. The Kentucky company works with multiple distillers and has amassed an inventory of more than 100,000 barrels. Mr. & Mrs. Bourbon has also become a platform for collaborations, including one with R&B singer October London known as October's Bourbon.
Ass Pocket Whiskey
Grammy-winning slide guitar virtuoso Derek Trucks, a longtime member of The Allman Brothers Band and co-founder of Tedeschi Trucks Band, is also a serious bourbon and whiskey lover—and the founder of Ass Pocket Whiskey. APW’s year-round Original is a seven-year-old, 92-proof Kentucky straight bourbon, though the brand also offers limited releases of older and rare whiskeys personally selected by Trucks. The name comes from old Delta juke-joint slang for a flask of whiskey carried in your back pocket.
Sweetens Cove Spirits
NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and former world No. 1 tennis player Andy Roddick are among the famous names behind Sweetens Cove Spirits, a bourbon brand inspired by Tennessee's Sweetens Cove Golf Club and its tradition of taking a shot of whiskey on the first tee. Manning won two Super Bowls during his legendary NFL career, while Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open. Sweetens Cove remains very much active and is developing a permanent Tennessee brand home targeted for 2027.
DIGITS Bourbon
Six-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen entered bourbon with DIGITS, a Tennessee-produced brand developed with Savage & Cooke founder and winemaker Dave Phinney. Pippen is best known as Michael Jordan's running mate during the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s, earning seven All-Star selections and two Olympic gold medals along the way. DIGITS Bourbon launched as a five-year bourbon before expanding its range.
Scottie Pippen. Photo courtesy of DIGITS Bourbon.
Whiskey JYPSI
Country star Eric Church, the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter behind albums including Chief, Mr. Misunderstood and Heart & Soul, co-founded Whiskey JYPSI with entrepreneur Raj Alva. The unconventional whiskey brand works with whiskey maker Ari Sussman and has experimented with sourced components, international whiskies and creative blending rather than tying itself to a single distillery.
Bradshaw Bourbon
Four-time Super Bowl champion Terry Bradshaw brought his larger-than-life personality from the football field to the whiskey shelf with Bradshaw Bourbon. The Pittsburgh Steelers legend, Hall of Fame quarterback and longtime television personality launched the Kentucky straight bourbon bearing his name after his playing days made him one of the most recognizable figures in NFL history.
Wild Turkey Longbranch
Matthew McConaughey teamed up with Wild Turkey Master Distiller Eddie Russell to create Wild Turkey Longbranch, a Kentucky bourbon refined with Texas mesquite and American oak charcoals. The Academy Award-winning actor behind Dallas Buyers Club, Dazed and Confused and Interstellar spent years as Wild Turkey's creative director. Though McConaughey and the distillery eventually ended their partnership, Longbranch remains a popular part of Wild Turkey’s core offerings.
American Whiskey
SirDavis American Whisky
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter launched SirDavis American Whisky with Moët Hennessy and renowned whisky maker Dr. Bill Lumsden in 2024. Named for Beyoncé’s moonshiner great-grandfather, SirDavis uses an unusual 51% rye and 49% malted barley mash bill and is finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. The superstar behind Lemonade, Renaissance and Cowboy Carter is the most-awarded artist in Grammy history. In August of this year, Beyoncé bought out LVMH’s stake in SirDavis, making her the whisky brand’s sole owner.
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. Photo courtesy of SirDavis American Whisky.
Four Walls Irish American Whiskey
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day created Four Walls Irish American Whiskey as the gang's real-life answer to Paddy's Pub. The brand combines Irish whiskey with American rye, appropriately refusing to fit cleanly into either country's traditional whiskey box. McElhenney, Howerton and Day have played Mac, Dennis and Charlie on It's Always Sunny since 2005, making their whiskey collaboration considerably more believable than most celebrity endorsements.
Fraser & Thompson
Grammy-winning Canadian crooner Michael Bublé teamed with master distiller Paul Cirka and spirits veteran Tim Stampa on Fraser & Thompson. Named after the intersection where Bublé spent time with his grandfather as a kid, the whiskey blends Kentucky bourbon with Canadian whisky. Bublé is best known for albums including Call Me Irresponsible, Crazy Love and the holiday juggernaut Christmas.
Heaven's Door Whiskey
Bob Dylan co-created Heaven's Door Whiskey as a collection of American whiskeys rather than a single style. That's appropriate for a musician whose career has been just as difficult to categorize: Dylan wrote classics including Like a Rolling Stone and Blowin' in the Wind, released landmark albums such as Highway 61 Revisited and Blood on the Tracks, and won both Grammys and the Nobel Prize in Literature. Heaven's Door remains active with bourbon, rye, double-barrel and Tennessee whiskey in its collection.
Bob Dylan. Photo courtesy of Heaven's Door Whiskey.
Traveller Whiskey
Country superstar Chris Stapleton teamed with Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley to create Traveller Whiskey. Stapleton, the Grammy-winning singer behind Traveller, Starting Over and songs including Tennessee Whiskey, worked with Wheatley to test more than 50 blends before settling on Blend No. 40. Despite its Buffalo Trace pedigree, Traveller isn't bourbon; it's a blended American whiskey made by combining whiskeys hand-selected from multiple Sazerac distilleries.
Virginia Black
Drake partnered with spirits entrepreneur Brent Hocking to launch Virginia Black in 2016. The Canadian rapper behind Take Care, Views and Scorpion helped turn the flashy decanter and blend of American bourbon whiskeys into one of the more visible celebrity whiskey launches of its era. Virginia Black's profile has cooled considerably since its peak, but the Drake connection remains strong enough that the brand belongs in any complete celebrity whiskey guide.
BLACKENED American Whiskey
Metallica launched BLACKENED American Whiskey with legendary whiskey maker Dave Pickerell, best known for helping build Maker's Mark and WhistlePig. Named after the opening track from the band's landmark 1988 album ...And Justice for All, BLACKENED blends American whiskeys before finishing them in brandy casks and famously uses Metallica playlists during its proprietary Black Noise finishing process. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers behind Master of Puppets and Enter Sandman remain attached to the continually evolving whiskey brand.
Kirk Hammett of Metallica. Image courtesy of BLACKENED American Whiskey.
Big Nose Kate
Actress Melissa McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone joined Big Nose Kate as investors and creative partners, bringing some Hollywood firepower to a whiskey named after Old West figure Maria Izabella Magdolna Horony, better known as Big Nose Kate. McCarthy is the Emmy-winning star of Bridesmaids, Mike & Molly and Spy, while Falcone is an actor, writer and filmmaker. The brand is built around a blend of American straight rye whiskey and American single malt.
Irish Whiskey
Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey
Former UFC champion Conor McGregor launched Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey in 2018 and turned it into one of the biggest celebrity spirits success stories. The Irish fighter became the UFC's first simultaneous two-division champion before crossing over to box Floyd Mayweather Jr. McGregor later sold his controlling stake, and Proximo Spirits subsequently ended its use of him in marketing.
Conor McGregor. Image courtesy of Proper Irish Whiskey.
Sláinte Irish Whiskey
Actor Liev Schreiber and drinks entrepreneur Richard Davies launched Sláinte Irish Whiskey in 2022. Schreiber is the Emmy-nominated star of Ray Donovan and has appeared in films including Spotlight and the Scream franchise. Sláinte's flagship is a triple-distilled Irish whiskey matured in bourbon barrels and finished in sherry casks. Far from disappearing after its celebrity launch, the brand is expanding nationally in the U.S. and planning additional markets and products.
The Pogues Irish Whiskey
Few bands have a more natural claim to an Irish whiskey than The Pogues. The Anglo-Irish punk-folk group fronted by the late Shane MacGowan gave the world Fairytale of New York, Dirty Old Town and albums including Rum Sodomy & the Lash. Launched in 2015, The Pogues Irish Whiskey was developed with West Cork Distillers in Skibbereen, County Cork, as a malt-forward blend of Irish grain and single malt whiskeys matured in bourbon and sherry casks. The band was directly involved in developing the whiskey, although ownership later shifted to drinks company Halewood, while West Cork Distillers has continued to be associated with its production.
Scotch Whisky
Sassenach Spirits
Outlander star Sam Heughan founded The Sassenach, a blended Scotch named for the nickname his character Jamie Fraser uses for his English-born wife Claire, played by Caitríona Balfe in the hit series. Heughan, who has also appeared in Bloodshot and The Spy Who Dumped Me, launched the whisky in 2021 as a celebration of his Scottish roots. In 2025, Heughan and business partner Alex Norouzi acquired Crafty Distillery in Heughan’s native Galloway, renamed it Galloway Distillery and made it the permanent home of Sassenach Spirits, which has expanded its line into gin and vodka.
Sam Heughan. Image courtesy of Sassenach Spirits.
Coachbuilt Whisky
2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button teamed with whisky entrepreneur George Koutsakis to create Coachbuilt Whisky. The blended Scotch brings together whiskies from Scotland's five major whisky-producing regions, mirroring the coachbuilding idea of assembling individually crafted components into one finished machine. Button won 15 Formula One Grands Prix during his career, giving Coachbuilt one of the better "celebrity actually makes sense for the brand" origin stories on this list.
Wolfie's Whisky
Rod Stewart launched Wolfie's Whisky with a healthy dose of rock-and-roll nostalgia. The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is responsible for classics including Maggie May, Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? and You Wear It Well, and the blended Scotch leans directly into Stewart's Scottish heritage and famously rowdy persona. Wolfie's is considerably newer than some celebrity whisky brands on this list and remains an active project.
World Whisky
Mercer + Prince
A$AP Rocky created Mercer + Prince, a blended Canadian whisky aged for at least four years in American white oak and influenced by Japanese Mizunara oak. The Grammy-nominated rapper behind LONG.LIVE.A$AP and AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP was also heavily involved in the brand's striking bottle, which incorporates two drinking cups.
Main image courtesy of Mercer + Prince.
댓글 0개