What do Zsa Zsa Gabor, Matthew McConaughey, and the Rock have in common, aside from the fact that each is a perfect answer in the “celebrity dinner guest” debate? All three, to various extents, have shilled for booze.
Alcohol endorsement deals are a lucrative side hustle for celebrities, who grace commercials, magazine advertisements, and Instagram posts in the name of a paycheck and a stiff drink. Texas stars have gripped the bottle with both hands, partnering with distilleries, taking on creative director duties, and even creating brands from the ground up. (None, perhaps, has gone so far as George Strait, who has a single and a music video centered on the stuff.)
While many of us remain on hiatus from visiting our favorite bartenders in person, why not let a beloved celebrity Texan help stock your bar? Whether you want to feel like McConaughey himself is pouring you a drink or pretend you’re at a pool party with Travis Scott, this list of celebrity-backed spirits has something to offer. We even spoke with a few stars about how they got involved in the business—and, just in case you needed a reminder to drink your tequila while listening to ZZ Top at eardrum-shattering levels, we also included each celebrity’s ideal drink pairings.
ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons
Bottle: Pura Vida Tequila and Luckenbach Road Whiskey
Role: Investor
“We call [our friendship] ‘elegance in a bottle,’” says Billy Gibbons, lead vocalist and guitarist of ZZ Top, of his relationship with Pura Vida Tequila founder Stewart Skloss. The pair have been close for two decades, but it wasn’t until 2015 that Gibbons became a top investor in the Houston brand.
“[Skloss] said, ‘You and I are going to get in the tequila business,’ and I kind of chuckled. I said, ‘Stewart, I turned my back on tequila when I was in my twenties because it turned its back on me.’” Then he tasted the drink. “This isn’t the tequila I remember from dragging up out of the dirt,” he recalls saying. (Pura Vida’s triple distillation process probably has something to do with that.)
In 2022, Gibbons and Skloss will conquer another corner of the bar with Luckenbach Road Whiskey, a spirit born from the pair’s new Hill Country distillery. The property also will contain a barbecue restaurant, luxury hotel, and Gibbons’s state-of-the-art recording studio, where guest musicians can book a session. ZZ Top superfans, get your livers ready.
Pair it with: “The fast and loud catalog of ZZ Top songs all qualify,” says Gibbons. “Fast because we want to get back to pouring another, and loud because we can take the message of Pura Vida’s excellence everywhere. It’s that good.”
