Exclusive: ‘We’re Gonna Get More Interesting, Not Less’: Matthew Lillard Has Big Ambitions for His Fantasy-Themed Spirits Brand

We sat down with actor Matthew Lillard to discuss his latest venture — Find Familiar Spirits. The company operates like a “movie studio” within the whiskey world and brings fictional spirits to life. (Photo: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Matthew Lillard says he’s never had a “typical” 9-to-5 job — until he launched Find Familiar Spirits with screenwriter Justin Ware and Tim Sparapani of Blue Run Spirits last August.

“I sit at this freaking chair 9 to 5 every day,” the actor said during an interview with Bottle Raiders. “I’m the CEO and co-founder, and Justin and I run the company. I was up at 7 [a.m.] on a phone call with our insurance broker upping our numbers this morning.”

In a market that’s rapidly becoming oversaturated with celebrity whiskeys, Lillard’s commitment to Find Familiar Spirits is refreshing.

Within five minutes of talking to the man, it becomes clear he’s not just slapping his name on a bottle for a cash grab, and though Find Familiar’s business model is unusual, it’s clear there’s a market for it.

Forbes reported that all all 5,000 bottles of the brand’s inaugural $149.99 whiskey, Paladin, sold out within 14 days of its release last fall.

In February, Find Familiar dropped its next whiskey — Rogue, which is still in stock but the brand claims on its website is “moving quickly.” Blue Run’s influence in Find Familiar’s to-market strategy can be palpably felt, as Lillard’s company launches each whiskey in limited “drops” with plenty of buzz. But once the whiskey is gone — that’s it.

This strategy is polarizing among whiskey fans; Forbes referred to Blue Run’s tactics as “sneakerizing” the whiskey landscape, since many of its to-market strategies were derived from successful Nike sneaker releases (which makes great sense; a Nike alum designs Blue Run’s bottles) Yet, it clearly works — the dollars speak for themselves.

“So many brands take two years to launch a brand that will last forever,” Lillard said. “We launch a new brand every three months.”

During an interview with Screen Rant, Lillard described Find Familiar Spirits as a “movie studio” for the whiskey world.

The 8-month-old brand focuses on taking fictional spirits from mythical worlds and intellectual properties and bringing them to life in limited-release spirits. Best of all, you can enjoy them in your favorite cocktail.

Find Familiar’s First Collaborative Release: Sandkheg’s Hide

On Thursday, Find Familiar released its first whiskey outside of the brand’s Dungeons and Dragons-inspired Quest’s End series. The brand’s first “fandom-centric whiskey” was a collaboration with “Critical Role” named Sandkheg’s Hide.

“Critical Role” is a web series in which a troupe of actors plays Dungeons and Dragons.

“‘Critical Role’ is the juggernaut in the sort of fantasy space, the Dungeons and Dragons, RPG Space,” Lillard said. “They are a rare bird because they are loved, they’re respected, they do great work and they are a hugely successful enterprise.”

Lillard claimed when conversations began to surface between Find Familiar Spirits and “Critical Role,” the fledgling whiskey brand “jumped at the opportunity” to collaborate.

“They’re authentic in the community. That’s a big thing for us,” Lillard explained. “How do we approach authenticity to a community? Not just transact on their passion, but give them something they’re going to be legitimately excited about? And [‘Critical Role’] has that in spades.”

Sandkheg’s Hide is a fictional liquor from an insect-like creature that was featured in episode 65 of “Critical Role.”

The fictional liquor is made from the bile of an insect-like creature. The real-life version is a bourbon that was blended by Quest End Director of Spirits and Master Blender Ale Ochoa and finished in sherry and vermouth casks. For inspiration, Lillard claimed Ochoa watched “Critical Role” and selected barrels based on what she heard.

“We’re cask-aging in sherry barrels to give it this boldness of flavor, this fruity flavor. We’re doing a vermouth to kind of pull out this herbaceous vibe,” Lillard shared. “So this idea of Ale Ochoa translating the story into juice is kind of the magical part I think.”

Ochoa recently accepted a position as master blender for Jefferson’s Bourbon, Lillard informed Bottle Raiders, but worked her contract out so that it would allow her to continue her work with Find Familiar Spirits.

Lillard says Ochoa is central to the brand’s success.

“It’s a little like, I think what it would be like to work with an alchemist in the days of Merlin,” Lillard said. “You bring what you have: your nuggets, your food, you bring your pot of wine, and you lay it down before her feet and be like, ‘Please do your magic for us, Ale.'”

For Lillard, Ware and Sparapani, hiring a female master blender was important and aligns with Find Familiar’s mission. Lillard says he collaborates with Ochoa by describing key personality components that some of the characters behind the brand’s whiskeys might have and lets her work her distiller’s magic.

 “We paint this picture, and she’s like, this is how I interpret your picture through liquid,” Lillard said.

The Future of Find Familiar Spirits

Since the brand’s inception, Lillard sees Find Familiar Spirits going far beyond the Dungeons and Dragons realm. He shared that his company has been approached by various TV and movie properties to collaborate on spirits release, yet the company is choosy about whom it decides to work with.

“We don’t ever want to be the place that will be like, just throw on the ‘Star Trek’ emblem’, and then you get the ‘Star Trek’ whiskey,” Lillard said. “We want to be like, OK, what do Trekkies love?”

The actor known for his on-screen appearances in “Scream” and the live-action “Scooby Doo” movies clarified that the brand isn’t actually doing anything with “Star Trek,” but shared that Find Familiar prioritizes working with brands the company can get behind creatively. They also prioritize finding interesting stories with distinct communities behind them and maintaining the brand’s integrity. He expressed that Find Familiar could be open to working with different media, even creating spirits from literary works.

As for the bourbon, Find Familiar’s current releases involve whiskeys over four years of age from Indiana and Kentucky, but that could potentially change.

Lillard said the brand is open to sourcing spirits from other locations and is currently in talks with a West Coast producer about sourcing whiskey.

“We are always going to be finding different opportunities to pull juice from different sources to tell different stories,” Lillard explained. “Our form is the story, not the liquid.”

As for what the future looks like for Find Familiar Spirits, Lillard’s goals are ambitious. The actor and entrepreneur shared that the team is aiming to launch four ongoing brands within the next three years.

He said Find Familiar had a “whole new season” planned in 2025 and that the brand has a tequila in the works that is slated to launch in October. Lillard described the tequila as Find Familiar’s “next flagship brand.”

“It’s a whole new world, and you know, we’re building glass for [the tequila] now,” Lillard explained. “And we’re starting to build a narrative around that now. So, yeah, it’s exciting. We’re gonna get more interesting, not less.”

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