From Elon Musk to Toby Keith: 7 Celebrity Mezcals That Define a Trend That Never Was

Over 10 years into its lifespan, celebrity-owned tequila shows no signs of slowing down. The craze, effectively jump-started by the launch of George Clooney’s Casamigos in 2013, has evolved into an unwieldy beast that defies all sense in business logic. You’d think there are too many competing brands for any one name to succeed, that celebrities would move on to the next trend and leave tequila in the dust. But you’d be wrong.

Within the past couple of years, the spirit has found benefactors in Matthew McConaughey, Megan Thee Stallion, Danny McBride, Dak Prescott and Michael Voltaggio. On the pre-mixed margarita side of the market, new A-listers include Jennifer Lopez, Canelo Alvarez, Hailee Steinfeld and Blake Lively. Non-alcoholic tequila? But of course, there’s Lewis Hamilton and Danny Trejo.

Amid the endless cascade of headlines, it’s easy to forget the trend that wasn’t. Within that same time frame, just a single celebrity mezcal touched down with consumers. Reach back further, and you won’t find many more.

Mezcal, though more popular than ever, never quite got the Hollywood boost that many predicted. Positioned by the industry as the cool, cigarette-smoking sibling of tequila, the spirit witnessed a surge in popularity that inspired many a dedicated mezcal bar and smoky cocktail. It was literally on the tip of everyone’s tongue in the late 2010s and early 2020s. During that brief period when mezcal went from unknown to thoroughly established, a handful of stars hopped on the train. Within months, they promptly packed their bags, got off and reboarded the Tequila Express traveling in the other direction.

The fizzle of celebrity mezcal remains something of a mystery, especially in light of a looming agave crisis that some have predicted will spell doom for the tequila industry. As we cautiously await the future of the category, here are seven brands that attempted to define the once-burgeoning celebrity mezcal market — for better and for worse.

1. Dos Hombres – Bryan Cranston & Aaron Paul

(Photo: Dos Hombres)

Six years after the series finale of “Breaking Bad,” Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul teamed up to create what is now arguably the most famous celebrity-backed mezcal on the market. Dos Hombres — Spanish for “Two Brothers” — couldn’t have debuted at a better time. Clooney had just sold his stake in Casamigos for a whopping $1 billion, and the industry was abuzz with speculation. As celebrity tequila quickly reached a point of oversaturation, all signs pointed to mezcal as the next blockbuster hit.

Considering the landscape, the actors did quite well for themselves. The brand’s flagship Espadin Mezcal clocks in at a budget-friendly $50 and is produced in the town of San Luis del Rio, Oaxaca. Though critics generally agree that the spirit is dependable if slightly unexciting, Dos Hombres has established itself as a hit thanks to ample promotion. Aaron and Cranston have kept up the momentum with a series of mixology competitions, sports partnerships and the debut of a limited-edition Tobala that costs $300, all of which have helped the brand stay in the headlines year after year.

2. Tesla Mezcal – Elon Musk

(Photo: Tesla)

Where to begin?

The tumultuous origin of Tesla Mezcal dates back to April Fool’s Day of 2018, when Elon Musk joked on Twitter that he’d launch something called “Teslaquilla” to his legions of adoring fans. A brief legal battle later, a hastily rechristened Tesla Tequila hit the market and promptly sold out within four hours. It was the beginning of a crackpot side project from a billionaire who, frankly, has little to gain from selling spirits. Tesla has since rereleased its tequila, debuted a pair of ales dubbed GigaBier and CyberBeer, rolled out triangular shot glasses and a $35 drinking vessel known only as the CyberMug. Reviews of all these products have been mixed, to say the very least.

The most recent addition to the roster was Tesla Mezcal. Produced in Mexico by Nosotros, the spirit is distilled from a combination of agave Espadin and Bicuishe said to imbue smoky flavors of green apple, spice and chamomile. Whether or not those tasting notes matter is up for debate. The main attraction was undeniably the matte black lightning-shaped decanter, prices for which can now reach as high as $10,000 among resellers. If Musk’s goal was to launch a vessel for upmarket speculation and clickbait YouTube thumbnails, he certainly succeeded.

3. Casamigos – George Clooney

(Photo: Casamigos)

It was only a matter of time before Clooney’s Casamigos expanded beyond tequila. In 2018, the popular brand forayed into the mezcal category with an Espadin distilled in Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca. All the details were pretty straightforward if you’ve dug into mezcal in the past; piñas cooked in earthen pits, crushed by a horse-drawn tahona, fermented for days and twice distilled in copper stills.

It was a bonafide hit. Though the brand has never released sales figures for the expression, Casamigos Mezcal recently pulled in 10th place among the best-selling mezcals at the world’s best bars. To put that into perspective, Casamigos — which produces just a single mezcal, and not an especially well-reviewed one — stood shoulder to shoulder with industry titans like Del Maguey, Ilegal and Montelobos. Clooney sure knows how to market a brand.

Snobbery aside, it’s likely that Casamigos Mezcal was many consumers’ first taste of the spirit. That is an impressive feat in and of itself. Whatever your opinions on the broader celebrity-owned alcohol market may be, brands like Casamigos play a crucial role in raising awareness and easing drinkers into intimidating flavors.

4. Lobos 1707 – LeBron James

(Photo: Lobos 1707)

Much like Casamigos and Tesla before it, Lobos 1707 threw its hat into the mezcal craze with an Espadin packaged in a black bottle. Unlike those brands, Lobos opted to finish its mezcal in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, imbuing that sweet dried fruit flavor found across the entirety of the distiller’s portfolio.

When you’re talking celebrity spirits, it’s hard not to mention the Avengers-level team of VIPs that Lobos 1707 has managed to assemble. Although LeBron James tends to steal the spotlight, other investors include actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, model Paris Hilton and NBA players Anthony Davis, Fred VanVleet and Zach LaVine. “Insecure” star and co-creator Issa Rae (who herself owns a successful prosecco brand) became the latest star to join the roster in October and likely won’t be the last.

5. Mezcalum – Erin Lichy

(Photo: Mezcalum)

One of the few recently debuted ventures comes courtesy of “Real Housewives of New York” star Erin Lichy. Though ostensibly the face of the brand, Lichy is only one of several celebrities who made Mezcalum a reality. Behind the scenes, the oddball roster of investors includes “celebrity gossip curator” Deuxmoi, New York Jets Wide Receiver Randall Cobb, co-founder Chris Roth and Lichy’s husband, lawyer and composer Abe Lichy.

The team joined forces on a blend of agave Espadin and wild-grown agave Cuishe, the latter of which typically packs flavors of floral sweetness and minerality. This brand is still very much in the process of rolling out but has a lot to gain, especially considering the preeminent star power of a Bravolebrity-backed product. Mezcalum has already been announced as the official mezcal of the New York Mets’ Citi Field and recently unveiled a cocktail capsule alongside Bartesian. Bottles are readily available under $50 across the country.

6. Wild Shot – Toby Keith

(Photo: Wild Shot Mezcal)

Nearly a decade before celebrity mezcal was even an inkling of an idea, country music legend Toby Keith debuted Wild Shot. Looking back all these years later, it’s hard to imagine a brand more quintessentially early 2010s. Wild Shot was introduced with a blanco and 6-month reposado, both of which featured the infamous maguey worm submerged at the bottom. Marketing leaned full-tilt into the schtick with a series of advertisements depicting a worm dangling from Keith’s teeth. It was, without a doubt, the most oddly unnerving spirits campaign ever put to press.

In other ways, Wild Shot was an innovator. While the vast majority of commercially available mezcal is distilled from agave Espadin grown in Oaxaca, Keith’s brand was distilled from agave Salmiana — known as the “green giant” due to its 8-to-10-foot height and 25-year maturation period — in San Luis Potosi. Salmiana is noticeably less smoky and more herbaceous than typical mezcal offerings and is a heck of a lot more difficult to cultivate. It’s a shame that the brand more or less disappeared from shelves, with bottles now going anywhere between $30 and $300 on the resale market.

7. Yola Mezcal – Lykke Li

(Photo: Yola Mezcal)

Yola Mezcal is the brainchild of Gina Agilietti, mezcalera Yola Jimenez and multi-platinum certified artist Lykke Li, best known for her hit single, “I Follow Rivers.” Whatever this trio is doing, we’re a fan. Yola is hands down the best celebrity-backed mezcal that money can buy, living proof that the category still has plenty of fuel left in the tank.

The recipe, originally conceived in 1971, was passed down through the generations by Yola Jimenez’s grandfather in San Juan del Río, the same town where the brand is distilled today. Its core offering is distilled from an ensemble of agave Espadin and Madrecuishe. Tasty as it might be, it’s the other stuff in the portfolio that’s most exciting. In late 2023, Yola debuted its first pechuga, a seasonal variety of mezcal that incorporates protein and local produce into the second or third round of distillation. For its twist on the concept, the brand added turkey breast, fresh orange, tangerine, lime, guayaba, pineapple and tejocote for a diverse mix of Oaxacan culinary influences. Yola has also debuted a limited-edition jabali, infamous within the industry as the most difficult agave to work with (it’s known to froth and literally explode inside the still).

This attention to time-honored methods has distinguished Yola as a force to be reckoned with. Sure, it’s a little pricier than its already-pricy competition, but it’s well worth the dive if you’re hankering for variety.