What do George Clooney, Kendall Jenner, Drake, and Nobel Prize-winning laureate Bob Dylan have in common? These disparate luminaries all own or lend their names to best-selling spirits brands, often with highly lucrative results. Now Jason Momoa, “Aquaman” himself, is diving into the white-hot niche industry, with a premium vodka he will bring to two coastal enclaves on Sept. 19.
The “Game of Thrones” actor, along co-founder Blaine Halvorson, created Meili (pronounced “may-lee”), a vodka bottled at 40% alcohol by volume (ABV) that, according to marketing copy, is “matured in the fresh mountain air.” Meili is old Norse meaning “beautiful” or “the lovely one.” Meili is also the name of son of the god Odin and brother of the Thor in Norse mythology. Now it’s an alcohol you can purchase on store shelves for around $30.
Despite the star’s name attached to the vodka, Halvorson insists that Meili is not a “celebrity brand,” telling the Los Angeles Times in April, “This has nothing to do with it. (Momoa) just happens to be a celebrity.”
Momoa and Halvorson will appear live at two in-person events for Meili at select stores on Tuesday, Sept. 19: Pavilions in Laguna Beach from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. and Gelson’s in Newport Beach from 2 to 3 p.m. Fans of the actor — or fans of vodka, which deserves a comeback within the craft-cocktail canon that too often leans heavily into rye and bourbon territories — can get autographed bottles to boot.
Find them: Pavilions, 600 N. Pacific Coast Highway (at Boat Canyon Drive), Laguna Beach; Gelson’s, 1660 San Miguel Drive (at San Joaquin Hills Road), Newport Beach
