Beyoncé Just Launched a Whiskey Brand
Another celebrity spirit brand launched today, this time from none other than Queen Bey.
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has teamed up with Moët Hennessy and the Scotch whisky maker Dr. Bill Lumsden, a five-time International Whisky Competition Master Distiller of the Year and head distiller at Glenmorangie, to create SirDavis.
Though this may seem somewhat surprising, Bey has been dropping hints about her love of the spirit in her lyrics and on social media for years now.
In April, she posted an Instagram reel of an exclusive Japanese whisky tasting that internet snoops believed took place at Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto in Japan. And, it turns out, she has deep familial ties to the spirit.
SirDavis is named in honor of Knowles-Carter’s paternal great-grandfather, Davis Hogue. A farmer and moonshiner in the American South during Prohibition, Hogue used to stash whiskey bottles in the empty knots of cedar trees to share with friends and family.
“I’ve always been drawn to the power and confidence I feel when drinking quality [whiskey] and wanted to invite more people to experience that feeling,” says Knowles-Carter in a press release. “When I discovered that my great-grandfather had been a moonshine man, it felt like my love for [whiskey] was fated. SirDavis is a way for me to pay homage to him, uniting us through a new shared legacy.”
To mark the release, we dug into Knowles-Carter’s legacy of shouting out her love of whiskey in her work and life before exploring how she made her new spirit. Take a look below.
“Cowboy Carter”
The Texas-born artist’s most recent album, 2024’s “Cowboy Carter,” highlights her carefully studied artistic approach and, in many instances, her love of whiskey. The groundbreaking LP is a journey through the past, present and future of Black country music. As is customary in the genre, she drops mentions of whiskey throughout.
On “Texas Hold ‘Em” she sings, “Rugged whiskey/cause we survivin.’” In “II Hands II Heaven,” it’s “Bottle in my hand, the whiskey up high.” And on “Bodyguard,” “Inhalin’ whiskey when you kiss my neck.”
Sure, it’s to be expected that Bey would drop a number of whiskey references in her debut country album. It is a common theme of the genre after all; however, the lyrical breadcrumbs go back further.
“Renaissance”
In her 2022 album “Renaissance”—inspired by disco, house music and Black ballroom culture—there’s also a whiskey reference.
On “Heated” she sings, “Whiskey ’til I’m tipsy, glitter on my kitty.” The very un-country lyric in an Afrobeat-inspired song fits into her larger nonconformist narrative. As the megastar does with so many things, she recontextualizes the spirit, broadens its appeal and places it in pop culture.
Whiskey in Beyoncé’s Earlier Work
Digging deeper into her discography reveals specific brands that she favors.
In “LOVEHAPPY,” from the 2018 album “Everything Is Love” recorded with her husband Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, she sings, “Sippin’ Yamazaki on the rocks.”
On “Lemonade,” her seminal 2016 album and film, she notes that, “Her Yamazaki straight from Tokyo” in “6 Inch Heels.”
A Japanese Whisky Obsessive
Clearly, according to her music, Bey has long been a fan of Japanese whisky. (Which, by the way, is spelled without an “e.”) But this appreciation goes well beyond song lyrics.
In 2015, the Daily Mail reported on photos that Beyoncé posted from a yacht, among them a collection of rare whiskies like Yamazaki 18 Years Old (though they are all unopened in the photo). And, as mentioned previously, earlier this year, she posted a reel of herself tasting through rare bottles of Hakushu, Yamazaki and others labeled “Mystery.”
“She is a true whisky drinker,” Lumsden tells Wine Enthusiast, noting that she listened deeply when they met. “It was her drink of choice, and she had decided that she wanted to create her own [whiskey] brand.”
Given Bey’s enthusiasm and her husband’s long involvement in the spirits industry, Bey’s decision to launch her own brand shouldn’t come as a complete shock.
Carter has had a foothold in the spirits industry for over a decade, starting in 2012 when he launched D’ussé Cognac with Bacardi. Two years later, he bought Armand de Brignac, a Champagne nicknamed Ace of Spades. In 2021, he sold 50% of the brand to the luxury multinational corporation LVMH. The conglomerate owns Moët Hennessy, the company that collaborated with Knowles-Carter for SirDavis and paired her up with Lumsden.
Another Cross-Genre Collaboration
Just as Beyoncé crosses genres in her music, she’s done the same with her whiskey brand.
While working out the profile, Lumsden shared Japanese whisky with Bey, but put some unusual styles of whiskey in front of her, too.
They settled on a rare mash bill of 51% rye and 49% malted barley, which is distilled in Indiana and finished in Texas in Pedro Ximenez Sherry barrels for between six and nine months.
The spirit’s unique mashbill is meant to capture an innovative spirit that both Lumsden and Beyoncé share, while the Sherry finishing lends a smoothness reminiscent of the Japanese whisky that Lumsden says she loves. In addition, Lumsden’s background as the distiller of Glenmorangie adds a Scotch-like point of view.
SirDavis is bottled at 44% abv, a nod to Bey’s allegiance to the number four, and is finished in her native Texas. Lumsden says there are currently plans to establish a headquarters in her hometown of Houston where finishing and bottling will take place.
At $89 a bottle, SirDavis may be out of reach for many drinkers. Regardless of whether you’ll be stocking it at home or not, it’s hard to overlook Beyonce’s studied process here, or that the whiskey industry, a predominantly white male landscape, now has a new female black owner—a fact surely not lost on Bey herself.
Hopefully, she’s “Drunk in Love” with the result.
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Published: August 20, 2024
