Ryan Reynolds’ Latest Gin Launch Looks Like Deadpool in a Bottle

(Photo: Aviation Gin)

Aviation Gin, the Oregon-based spirits brand acquired by Ryan Reynolds in 2018, has unveiled its first-ever flavored offering with Cranberry & Blood Orange. Squint your eyes hard enough, and its black-and-red label might bear a passing resemblance to a certain superhero that relaunched a certain actor’s career in the mid-2010s.

Now available nationwide at around $30 per bottle, the fittingly blood-red gin begins with the brand’s usual botanical mix of cardamom, coriander, French lavender, anise seed, sarsaparilla, juniper and two kinds of orange peel. The gin is then batched at 40% ABV (two notches lower than standard Aviation) and flavored with cranberry and blood orange.

The team recommends it in signature cocktails like the Bloody Good Mimosa and the Blimey Fizz, though it sounds like it would work equally well in established fare like the Cosmopolitan or Sea Breeze.

“Innovation is at the heart of what we do. That’s true despite the fact that until today we have not really changed our product at all,” Reynolds said in a news release. “I am so proud of our first actual innovation – the delicious Cranberry & Blood Orange.”

Aviation was founded in 2006 by bartender Ryan Magarian and distiller Christian Krogstad, who were the first to coin and popularize New Western Dry Gin. The brand was bought by Reynolds little over a decade later, and was eventually acquired by Diageo — the British spirits firm behind Don Julio, Guinness and Johnnie Walker — in 2020.

Aviation has maintained a lean portfolio since its inception. Apart from its standard offering and the newly debuted Blood Orange & Cranberry, the brand has only ever released an aged Old Tom and a travel-exclusive Expedition Strength.

“We’re proud to introduce Cranberry & Blood Orange to the Aviation portfolio as a meaningful expansion of the brand,” Ricky Collett, Gin Category Marketing Director at Diageo, added. “We wanted to create new occasions for consumers to engage with Aviation in fresh, creative ways, and focused on crafting a liquid that delivers versatility, accessibility and an exceptional flavor experience. The combination of Aviation’s signature gin with tart cranberry and citrus-forward blood orange offers cocktail elevation while remaining easy to enjoy.”