Which Hollywood star makes the best gin? From Brad Pitt to Margot Robbie, our expert put them to the test

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You’d have to be drinking under a rock to have not noticed the boom in celebrity spirits in the past decade. Why are so many celebs dipping their toes into the still? Perhaps George Clooney (co-founder of Casamigos Tequila) offered the best insight when he said “Acting used to be how I paid the rent but I sold a tequila company for a billion f****** dollars. I don’t need money.”

In the years that followed Clooney’s seismic sale to Diageo, fellow Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds netted a reported $335m from the sale of Aviation Gin and Conor McGregor a reported $100m in the sale of Proper No Twelve. Tequila may have kicked off the trend for celebrity spirits but gin now boasts a booming glitterati ownership to match.

Why are there so many celebrity gins now? The answer likely comes down to the two most precious things in our lives: time and money. Gin production is rapid in comparison to aged spirits. With no time in a barrel required, would-be gin gurus can go from sketch to shelf in a matter of months rather than waiting for years for their spirit to reach maturity.

However, a 2024 study found only 1% of UK adults are influenced by celebrity endorsements when purchasing their alcohol (compared with 7% in the US). A recognisable face will only shift so many bottles – the gin has to actually taste good too. So, does it? We’ve gathered up celebrity gins and poured them out in order to answer this very question. From Top Gear presenters to Hollywood stars and rugby legends, there's plenty of famous faces producing tipples to try. We taste tested each over ice both with and without tonic. So, how did they stack up?

Which celebrity makes the best gin?

Cygnet 22

bottle of Cygnet Gin

Best for: Sipping on the rocks
Rating: 5/5
ABV: 44%

Katherine Jenkins OBE founded Cygnet Gin somewhat out of necessity. The Welsh mezzo-soprano has had to protect her voice her entire career. This meant avoiding her beloved G&Ts ahead of shows as the spirits available to her irritated her vocal cords. The solution was to partner with Copperworks Distillery to produce the ultra-smooth, ultra-premium Cygnet Gin range.

Cygnet 22 is the flagship expression and has won more awards than you can shake a stick at, justifiably so. Gentle chamomile and crisp juniper make up the nose but the star of the show is the manuka honey which characterises a silky smooth, well balanced palate. Best enjoyed over ice without tonic, as is the brand’s ultra-premium offering Cygnet 77 which is rested with manuka honey in ex-Welsh whisky barrels. Both superb, enjoy whichever you can afford.

As an extra bonus, it is worth noting that Cygnet 22 is arguably one of the most gorgeous bottles on the market: designed to mimic a droplet of the Welsh spring water at the heart of the gin, this is a bottle you will be keeping and repurposing.

Available from:
Waitrose Cellar (£54)
Master of Malt (£54.24)

James Gin Asian Parsnip

Bottle of James Gin

Best for: Spicing up your traditional G&T
Star rating: 4/5
ABV: 40%

Many moons ago James May had a go at making gin on a TV show and became fascinated with the process ever since. The story goes that Top Gear’s Captain Slow initially intended to set up a still in his Wiltshire garage before being informed by HMRC that this was “entirely illegal”. Instead James turned to Hugh Anderson at Downton Distillery and the rest is history. The flagship expression is Asian Parsnip – referring to the humble parsnip being livened (very successfully) by Asian spices.

Cubeb pepper, grains of paradise and fenugreek are among the Asian spices on the botanics list. The nose is earthy and almost prickly though not unpleasant with the more intense spices. Enjoyed with tonic, the gin is interesting, nutty and sweeter than you’d expect. The complexity of the spices benefits from a touch less tonic than usual. When enjoyed neat or only partially diluted, the warm earthiness of the fenugreek bursts through with the sharp ginger.

For those looking for something stronger, James Gin also produces a Navy Strength expression which is equally delicious.

Available from:
James Gin (£36.95)
Waitrose (£36)

Papa Salt Coastal Gin

Bottle of Papa Salt Coastal Gin

Best for: Long lazy lunches
Rating: 4.5/5
ABV: 42.8%

Margot Robbie is the epitome of Australian cool, so it follows that the gin the actor launched with her husband and three friends is designed to be enjoyed in the breezy, unhurried manner the Aussie coasts are famed for. The group took this endeavour incredibly seriously: blind tasting market-leading gins to align on a direction and then going through 59 recipe iterations (hard work but somebody has to do it) before landing on the combination which became Papa Salt Coastal Gin.

Distilled in a zero-waste facility at the award-winning Lord Byron Distillery, the gin leans heavily into its coastal roots with salinity coming from oyster shell (a mollusc-free expression is in the works). A mineral profile takes juniper’s traditional place on the palate here. It is fresh and bright with zesty citrus, warmth lent by peppercorn and depth by the very Australian inclusion of roasted wattleseed.

Overall an incredibly moreish and refreshing serve. The savoury profile may not be traditional but this is certainly a gin you can open with friends on a lazy sunny afternoon.

Available from:
Waitrose Cellar (£39)
Master of Malt (£39)

Renais Gin

Bottle of Renais Gin

Best for: Wine lovers looking for a terroir-driven alternative
Rating: 4.5/5
ABV: 40%

The Watson family are a talented bunch, aren’t they? Actress Emma Watson is known the world over for her Harry Potter filmography but lesser known to many of us is that her dad is an award-winning chablis producer. He is the only Englishman to have been designated a pilier of chablis – a rank reserved for winemakers turning out exceptional expressions of the local tipple. It is from the family’s vineyards that Renais was created by siblings Emma and Alex Watson.

The name hints at the ethos behind the gin. Renais is derived from renaissance, the literal English translation is ‘rebirth’ and this gin is made using upcycled grape skins, a byproduct of wine production, to form the base spirit. Added to the base spirit is a host of botanicals including juniper, grains of paradise and linden flowers. Also added is acacia honey made by the distillery’s partner producers.

The nose is crisp and floral with juniper at the fore. Renais denotes itself a ‘terroir gin’ and earns this badge with a welcome mineral spine to the palate, along with fresh citrus, crisp juniper and warm spice. This was crisp and delicious with tonic but more enjoyable on its own over ice.

Available from:
Waitrose Cellar (£40)
Amazon (£40)

Aviation Gin

Bottle of Aviation Gin

Best for: Newcomers to gin looking for something approachable
Rating: 4/5
ABV: 42%

There’s an argument that this gin is the reason this article exists. Aviation Gin was proof for the celebrity crowd that they could get into the gin game and come out of it smelling of roses (and mountains of cash). Founded way back in 2006, Aviation was doing well even before Ryan Reynolds' involvement, with the liquid earning a whopping 97 points from Wine Enthusiast in 2012. Reynolds invested in 2018, and in 2020 Diageo acquired the brand for $610m with the Deadpool actor retaining a stake in the business and continuing to promote it with both Deadpool limited editions and collector bottles for Wrexham AFC.

The nose is light and welcoming, earthy and spicy with juniper behind lavender. This earthy quality follows through to a smooth palate made up of prominent cardamom, coriander, sarsaparilla and a background citrus. However, citrus is more prominent in the long finish. This is a bottle for a moreish G&T, it’s subtle and eminently sippable.

Available from:
Master of Malt (£29)
The Whisky Exchange (£31.50)

The Gardener French Riviera Gin

Bottle of Gardener Gin

Best for: Classic G&T lovers looking for something extra
Rating: 4/5
ABV: 42%

Brad Pitt is the famous face fronting The Gardener Gin. This bottle certainly has some solid credentials behind it. Brad has collaborated with Master Distiller Tom Nichol to produce this spirit – Tom being the master distiller credited with creating Tanqueray No 10 and only the second man to be awarded The Gin Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award. The third member of this creative triumvirate is the Famille Perrin, a winemaking family which has been tending vineyards in the Southern Rhône Valley for five generations.

Brad has a deep love for the Côte d’Azur and sought to bottle the riviera with this gin, his vision convincing enough to bring Tom out of retirement. The spirit is made using fresh citrus grown locally in the French Riviera: bitter orange bigarade, sweet orange and pink grapefruit. This is a simple yet mightily impressive gin, the citrus is welcome on the nose along with juniper, the pair coming together for a well balanced and deliciously smooth palate and long finish. Best enjoyed in the most classic of G&Ts.

Available from:
Majestic (£34)

Hammond’s Ratio London Dry Gin

Bottle of Hammond's Ratio

Best for: Countryside lovers looking for something with real rural provenance
Rating: 3.5/5
ABV: 40%

Richard Hammond's TV career has taken him all across the world and it was this spirit of adventure that he sought to reflect in his foray into the spirits world. The former Top Gear host personally designed the botanical ratio for this London Dry Gin, hence the name.

Richard's passions are also reflected in the bottle design, with the glass moulded to reflect a gear when viewed from above – a subtle but endearing touch. Working with Hawkridge Distillers the TV personality chose a range of botanicals he felt made a gin truly ‘of the fells’. Included in this botanical bill are bilberries, wild gorse flowers and nettles. Honey is also added to the blend for a dollop of smoothness. Fresh and floral on the nose, there is also a subtle earthiness which follows onto the palate which is smooth with a subtly bitter citrus afforded by the bilberries.

Available from:
Waitrose Cellar (£39)
Master of Malt (£41.95)

Hawkstone Gin

Bottle of Hawkstone Gin

Best for: Field to bottle enthusiasts looking for a classic G&T
Rating: 3.5/5
ABV: 40%

Jeremy Clarkson’s agricultural efforts are well documented and so it follows that the former Top Gear host’s gin is made using wheat harvested from farms local to his Hawkstone HQ. The Hawkstone brand is perhaps better known for its lager which is made using barley from Clarkson’s 1,000-acre Diddly Squat Farm.

The Hawkstone Gin is distilled in partnership with the Wood Brothers, sixth-generation Oxfordshire farmers that pride themselves on their field to bottle distilling with everything harvested and processed on their single estate. Clarkson’s gin is made in a traditional copper still and is a straightforward and pleasant offering. It is crisp with classic juniper notes and a welcome herbaceousness introduced by rosemary and coriander. Floral elderflower brings a measure of sweetness and makes this a refreshing tipple worth popping open for a sunny Sunday lunch with friends.

Available from:
Amazon (£37.50)
Burford (£49)

Blackeye Gin

Bottle of Blackeye Gin

Best for: Smooth sipping whilst supporting a good cause
Rating: 4/5
ABV: 40%

Blackeye Gin was brought to the world by icons of rugby Mike Tindall and James Haskell as well as TV presenter Alex Payne. The trio host a podcast together, The Good, the Bad and the Rugby – it was after one lively episode of the pod that the idea was born for the trio to put a spirit out into the world.

Named for the physical precarity of the sport in which Mike and James made their names, the gin also does a lot of good for a lot of people. A portion of each bottle sold goes to The Blackeye Rugby Fund which supports injured players and funds research into risk and recovery.

The gin is more than just a charity project – it’s a darned good tipple. Blackeye London Dry Gin claimed a mightily impressive Double Gold Medal at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, scoring a whopping 95/100. As expected with a London Dry, the nose is crisp with juniper and sweet with citrus, both of which characterise a smooth and floral palate with a welcome piny dryness keeping you coming back for more. As good a choice as any for a classic G&T.

Available from:
Waitrose Cellar (£27.50)
Master of Malt (£32.95)

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source https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/reviews/celebrity-gin-taste-test

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