Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul Take on Tequila

What three words does actor, producer, director, and screenwriter Bryan Cranston use to describe his new Dos Hombres tequila? “Pretty damn good,” he says, with a wry smile. More specifically, he refers to the blanco as "light, refreshing, and inviting"; it's the first of three expressions that will eventually join the existing Dos Hombres lineup. The tequilas come nearly seven years after Cranston launched Dos Hombres mezcal with his “Breaking Bad” co-star Aaron Paul.

The two actors, both mezcal fans, created Dos Hombres in part to stay in touch after “Breaking Bad” wrapped, but they soon discovered that introducing mezcal to Americans is something of a Sisyphean task. “Most people aren’t familiar with mezcal," says Cranston. “In conversations I’d hear, ‘Hey, I love your tequila,’ and I’d go, ‘Thank you—that’s a mezcal,’ and just a couple beats later the same person might say, ‘And my wife loves your tequila too!’ Aaron and I thought that we’d educate people and turn them into mezcal drinkers, but we just kept pushing that boulder up the hill…so we said, why don’t we lean into the tequila?” And so the journey to create Dos Hombres tequila began.

Cranston and Paul turned to Tequilera Tap Distillery—also home to Pantalones, Matthew and Camila McConaughey’s brand, as well as Tres Agaves, Cazcanes, and more—for production, and managed to bring maestro tequilero Julio Cova, who had made tequila at Tequilera Tap for more than 40 years, out of retirement for the project. In making the leap into tequila, Cranston and Paul followed the same blueprint laid down by Dos Hombres mezcal; the tequilas are nothing but blue weber agave and mountain spring water, free of additives or coloring. The only requirement that the duo had was that the tequila taste exceptional on its own. “The foundation of the spirit has got to be there, so we didn’t make any cocktails as we were searching for what would become Dos Hombres tequila,” Cranston explains. (That said, he says you can’t go wrong mixing this up in a Paloma or Margarita.)

At 40% ABV, the blanco ($40) is indeed light and inviting, with plenty of agave character complemented by peppery spice, citrus sweetness, and toasted coconut—perfectly sippable on its own, but one can see it slotting in nicely to any number of tequila-based cocktails. A reposado ($50) aged for 4 months in Four Roses bourbon barrels is set to join the blanco in July, and an añejo is a bit further afield, slated for an early 2027 release.