The “Breaking Bad” actors were in town promoting their Dos Hombres mezcal brand.
Walter White and Jesse Pinkman sold their product in Connecticut on Wednesday.
No, no, not that blue stuff from the hit series “Breaking Bad.”
Stars of the show, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, made local stops for meet-and-greets with fans as part of a nationwide tour to promote their new mezcal brand, Dos Hombres.
Stew Leonard’s Wine & Spirits in Norwalk hosted the first bottle-signing event of the day, with two lines that stretched beyond the length of the storefronts on Westport Avenue. More than 230 bottles were presold, and the remainder of Stew Leonard’s stock quickly sold out, leading to a portion of the larger-than-anticipated crowd being turned away.
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“You guys are almost there!” Paul shouted to the crowd wrapped around the store. “You’re almost there. We did it. We’re in this together.”
The first fans to line up -- Miriam Alterman and her father, Stuart, of East Brunswick, N.J. -- arrived at 3 a.m., six hours prior to the scheduled start time.
“It’s just an incredible experience to be able to see them and talk to them,” said Miriam Alterman, 18, who had Paul record a Sweet 16 message for her friend. “They were just so down to earth and amazing.”
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They left the house around 1 a.m. on three hours sleep to ensure they’d meet the co-stars of “Breaking Bad” -- an AMC series starring Cranston as Walter White, a former chemistry teacher turned methamphetamine kingpin, and Paul as Jesse Pinkman, White’s former student turned business partner.
“I started watching it when it was one episode a week,” Stuart Alterman said of the pre-binge era. “It’s just an iconic show.”
A show that Ryan Bell and his 13-year-old son, Zach, of Westport, Conn. watched together. So, when the stars of their favorite show came to town, Zach got the day off from school to meet them.
“Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul being literally being one town over, absolutely we were going to do that one together,” Ryan Bell said. “It was great watching the show together and sharing it, but to meet these guys in person and to do that together, it was a memory we’ll have forever.”
Zach was one of the event’s youngest attendees, and Cranston and Paul took notice.
“Aaron asked how old I was and Bryan Cranston asked how old I was when I started watching it,” said Zach, who began watching the show last year. “Aaron said, 'I think 12 is a fine age to start watching.'"
Cranston disagreed.
“He started yelling out to the crowd, ‘Somebody call child services!’” Ryan Bell said.
A few fans brought gifts for Cranston and Paul, others asked them to say hello to friends and family on FaceTime, some inquired about the duo’s upcoming appearance on the “Breaking Bad” prequel “Better Call Saul.”
Cranston and Paul, who earlier in the week made stops in New York and New Jersey, then held a second bottle-signing Wednesday at Total Wine & More on Main Avenue in Norwalk. Their Connecticut tour concluded at Fortina in Stamford, where the duo served as bartenders.
As for their product?
“Mezcal is essentially a smoky type of tequila,” said JoAnn LoGiurato, Stew Leonard’s Wine & Spirits certified wine specialist. “It’s still made from the agave plant, but it’s smoked… I often equate it to the peatiness of a scotch. So, for someone who likes that profile, it’s quite delicious.”
That’s something Zach Bell will have to wait to learn. He now proudly owns a bottle of Dos Hombres autographed by Cranston and Paul, but it will remain sealed for a few more years.
“We are gonna keep it closed until he turns 21,” Ryan Bell said. “I hope that the bottle ages as well as I’m sure the show will. We’ll open it up in eight years and we’ll watch the finale together while we’re sipping out of that bottle.”
