Celebrity-backed booze still has that buzz.

Sammy Hagar. Nicki Minaj. Dwayne Johnson. Sarah Jessica Parker. Snoop Dogg. They've all gotten into spirits – from tequila to ready-to-drink cocktails. And their successes have led more stars like Kevin Hart and Post Malone to join in.

The roster of celebrity-supported spirits is not only growing; the prices are rising. 

Breaking Bad co-stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, whose Dos Hombres mezcal brand debuted in 2019, sold out the limited supply of their 25-year-old, $349 mezcal when it launched in December 2020. Two remaining autographed bottles are going on sale Sept. 7 on a first-come, first-served basis for $575 in the Spirits Network's Dropzone marketplace (you must sign up for a free membership in advance).

Kendall Jenner's 818 tequila brand, launched in 2021, has a new Eight Reserve añejo tequila ($200), a blend of añejo and extra añejo tequila aged up to eight years, hits stores Sept. 19.

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And Heaven's Door, co-founded by Bob Dylan, sold all 3,494 bottles of The Bootleg Series Vol. III ($545), a 13-year-old Kentucky bourbon in a hand-made bottle embellished with a Dylan painting, since its December 2021 release. Some bottles are now being sold on the secondary market for more than $1,000.

Musicians, actors and influencers are investing time and money to build brands beyond their primary careers. "There’s an authenticity factor when celebs connect with consumers about brands they wear, use, eat and drink," Brandy Rand, chief strategy officer at IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, told USA TODAY.

A celebrity connection "provides immediate validity to a product and cuts through the clutter of traditional advertising," Rand said. "For new brands, the star factor can jumpstart awareness and facilitate distribution and sales."

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Tequila has been 'on fire'

The celebrity hook especially pays off in tequila. While the volume of overall spirits sold in the U.S. rose 4% in 2021, tequila grew almost 17%, according to IWSR, which tracks alcohol sales at retail and at bars, clubs and restaurants.

Sales of celebrity tequila, by volume, have outpaced total tequila and overall spirits in the U.S., growing 50% between 2016 and 2021, IWSR says. Celebrity tequila alone accounted for $1.9 billion in global revenues in 2021, IWSR said.

The tequila category "has been on fire the past few years," Rand said. "There’s a lifestyle and luxury element associated with tequila that can pair well with celebrity brand image."

Tequila is expected to continue to outpace other spirits this year. So far, tequila sales at retail are up 6.3%, while total spirits spending has declined just slightly (-0.2%), through the week ending Aug. 13, according to NielsenIQ, which tracks retail sales.

Whiskey still makes up the biggest share of spirits sold at $4.4 billion, followed by vodka at $2.7 billion. Tequila, No. 3 at $1.7 billion, is the only spirit showing an increase in sales compared to this time a year ago, according to Nielsen IQ.

Steering clear of 'money grabs'

Celebrity interest in tequila has skyrocketed since the 2017 sale of Casamigos tequila, a brand co-founded by George Clooney, for a deal valued at as much as $1 billion to international spirts company Diageo. 

Actor and comedian Hart had several opportunities to get involved in spirits, but “they were money grabs,” he told Rolling Stone in May 2022. “‘Hey, we want a face.’ If it’s not true or authentic to me, then it can’t work.”

Two years ago, Hart found the project he wanted, teaming with Juan Domingo Beckmann, who's CEO of Becle – an international spirits company and parent company of Jose Cuervo – and Global Brand Equities, a private company that in 2020 launched Post Malone's Maison No. 9 French rosé wine.

The resulting Gran Coramino Reposado Cristalino tequila ($50), released in May, is aged and filtered, so it looks like a blanco but with a smooth complex character.

Hart plans to work Gran Coramino into his wide variety of project – from movie shoots and his SiriusXM radio show to his live standup comedy concerts. “I get to incorporate it into the world of Kevin,” he told Rolling Stone. “That’s an amazing privilege that most don’t have.”

Tequila opens doors for other agave spirits 

Consumers' taste for tequila has led to an uptick in other spirits made with agave.

Hagar, who made nearly $100 million selling his stake in Cabo Wabo in two transactions (in 2007 and 2009) to the Campari Group, made initial inroads with Santo Mezquila in 2017. The spirit is an 80-proof blend of mezcal and tequila (actually a type of mezcal made from blue agave).

Tequila and mezcal are made differently – and have distinctly different flavors – with agave baked and often shredded for tequila, while for mezcal it's usually roasted and subsequently pressed.

"We always say mezcal is like tequila's older, more sophisticated relative," said Paul, during a Zoom tasting session with Cranston in March 2022.

In researching mezcal, the two visited Oaxaca, Mexico, and tasted 90 or so different ones before finding the source for Dos Hombres. "We're not about to slap our names on something on a bottle and say, “Hey, good luck!” Cranston said during the session. "We have to be passionately involved in the entire operation or else we're just not interested."

They've tapped into a passionate market. Last year, sales of tequila and mezcal hit $5.2 billion in revenue, up 30% from 2020, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United StatesAmerica. 

Meanwhile, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, who initially partnered with Hagar, has gone on to release Calirosa tequilas, priced from $50 to $300, aged in California red wine barrels from California. He and wife Behati Prinsloo invested in the Real family distillery in Jalisco, Mexico.

And Hagar, who recruited Guy Fieri to Santo after Levine's departure, has gone on to release Santo Spirits blanco and reposado tequilas. Also on Hagar's drink menu: Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktails canned sparkling rum cocktails and Sammy's Beach Bar Rum.

Others tap into pre-mixed cocktails

Ready-to-drink cocktails is another growing category, with prepared cocktails up 39% so far this year, NielsenIQ says. 

Rapper Nicki Minaj was an early entrant, launching in 2013 her Myx Fusions line, which now features various flavors of Moscato and sangria and lower calorie Italian chardonnay and rosé.

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker teamed with Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits on The Perfect Cosmo by SJP, a premium ready-to-drink cocktail, which hit the market in May 2022. The product makes sense as her “Sex and the City” character had a fondness for cosmopolitans. She had already teamed up in 2019 with Invivo to launched her wine collection named Invivo x SJP. 

The company has created other cocktails with John Cena (The Old Fashioned), actresses Ashley Benson, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Hudgens (The Margalicious Margarita), and rapper Playboi Carti (The Hardscatto).

Having a celebrity involved usually increases the odds of survival for a new spirit or beverage, said Bump Williams, a beverage industry analyst. "It helps with consumer recognition, influencer advertising, distributor share of mind and, of course, getting retailer shelf space, which is at a premium," he said. 

Celebrity booze, Williams said, "may have a lot of room to grow."

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider.