Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul Now Have a Mezcal Brand

 

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A post shared by Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul) on Jul 9, 2019 at 9:59am PDT

Other than the celebrities behind the brand, mezcal doesn’t have much of a tie in with Breaking Bad. Whiskey was the typical drink for characters, with brands like Dimple Pinch, WhistlePig, and Knob Creek all making appearances. And the name doesn’t cheekily nod to the series either. The inspiration, according to the joint Instagram post, came when they were eating sushi in New York City and talking about life and what they could next do together. Paul suggested “a really special mezcal,” and Cranston responded, “You mean the liquor with a worm at the bottom?”

The talk led to them going to Oaxaca “to see if we could find” artisanal mezcal that is “so damn good even people who don’t think they like mezcal will love it.” Long story short, they had a “beautiful yet grueling search” through Oaxaca before finding “Our Mezcal” in a small village. The name Dos Hombres came from them being “two guys on a quest.”

Cranston and Paul aren’t the first two white male celebrities to go from learning what mezcal is to owning a brand and calling it their own in a space of a few years. They’re also far from the only celebrities to own a liquor brand. Their entry into the market of Mexico’s rapidly growing native spirit is anything but unique.

By all means, people should make what they love. When what they love is a culturally significant product made in small local communities, however, respect has to be given where it’s due. Other than noting that it’s made from agave that’s “hand-selected from the hillsides of a small village in Oaxaca” by “the legendary craftsmanship of the best Mezcal Masters in Oaxaca,” there’s no credit to the people who actually made Dos Hombres.

On Reserve Bar, where you can buy a bottle for $58, it’s described as “the product of multiple generations of proud Mezcal producers” who remain unnamed despite “embodying the very best of Mexico.”

Hopefully, credit is at some point given where credit is due. Until then, if you want to try sustainable mezcal sold by mezcaleros and people who have taken the time to learn from mezcaleros, give these five brands a try.