Ryan Reynolds Ditches Pup in Favor of Gin for Westminster Dog Show
Best in show! Ryan Reynolds had a very different approach while participating in the 2020 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show as he chose to enter his gin into the competition.
The Deadpool star, 43, posted a video to Twitter on Friday, February 7, of himself gearing up for the main event. Though Reynolds was seemingly prepared to take his pup out on the floor, it was soon revealed that he was aiming to win big with a leashed bottle of Aviation Gin.
The hilarious moment is part of a partnership Reynold’s brand, Aviation Gin, forged with the Westminster Dog Show. In teaming up with the annual competition, Reynold’s gin brand created a specialty cocktail called “The Sensation.” The drink combines Aviation Gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and muddled blackberries, which is topped off with a lemon peel garnish.
Aviation Gin first hit the market in 2005, but the Canadian actor wouldn’t buy the company from the previous owner Davos Brands, LLC until February 2018. Months after acquiring the business, he opened up about his reason for the purchase.
“We’re at the beginning of what feels like a modern-day gin craze,” he told reporters in August 2018, per Fortune. “Millennials are drinking it. Young people are drinking it. Not toddlers, but young people.”
Reynolds first discovered the drink while visiting his hometown of Vancouver, Canada, adding: “I kept ordering this same Negroni again and again, and I didn’t know why it was so good. It was because of the gin, Aviation Gin. I realized I didn’t need the Negroni. I just needed the gin.”
The Green Lantern star revealed that he has continued to have “an active role in the day-to-day” operations of his company. He also “oversees creative direction as part of his mission to introduce the world to the great taste of Aviation.”
Reynolds’ brand’s partnership with the Westminster Dog Show comes just in time for this year’s event. The two-night competition is set to kickoff at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Monday, February 10. The Best in Show will be announced on Tuesday, February 11.
Not all events occurring during the 144th annual affair will air on TV, but fans can tune into a live telecast airing on FS1 beginning Monday at 8:30 a.m. ET.