Beyoncé launches whiskey inspired by ‘moonshiner’ great-grandfather

(CNN) — “Bottle in my hand, the whiskey up high,” Beyoncé sang on her latest album “Cowboy Carter,” released earlier this year.

Now it seems she may have had a specific brand in mind.

On Tuesday, the 32-time Grammy-winner unveiled her latest business endeavor: A luxury whiskey inspired by her Prohibition-busting great-grandfather.

The brand is a joint venture between Beyoncé and Moët Hennessy, the drinks division of luxury conglomerate LVMH, which owns dozens of wine, champagne and spirit labels including Veuve Clicquot and Dom Pérignon.

Promising an “unexpected take” on American whiskey, the drink is named SirDavis in honor of the singer’s paternal great-grandfather Davis Hogue. A farmer and Prohibition-era “moonshiner,” Hogue stashed liquor bottles “in the empty knots of cedar trees for friends and kin to find and enjoy,” according to a press release.

“When I discovered that my great-grandfather had been a moonshine man, it felt like my love for whisky was fated,” Beyoncé said in a statement. “SirDavis is a way for me to pay homage to him, uniting us through a new shared legacy.”

SirDavis’ website features a handwritten letter from Beyoncé to Hogue saying his “legacy is a force that drives me.”

The recipe was masterminded by Bill Lumsden, the distiller behind LVMH-owned Scottish single-malt whiskies Glenmorangie and Ardbeg. With a mash featuring 51% rye and 49% malted barley, the whiskey’s maturation is completed in a sherry cask, the press release said.

The resulting flavor profile is described as evoking dark red fruits, clove and cinnamon, with an “elegant mouthfeel and texture reminiscent of Japanese and Scotch whiskies.”

LVMH said Beyoncé was involved in designing the bottle, which features a bronze horse logo representing the Houston-born star’s Texas roots.

Although described as “years in the making,” the move is in keeping with the singer’s recent “cowboycore” public image. The country-inspired “Cowboy Carter” and its predecessor “Renaissance” both featured images of the singer riding a horse, with lyrical references to whiskey appearing across the two records.

SirDavis is the latest venture in a business empire that, in the past 9 months alone, has expanded to include a fragrance (Cé Noir) and a line of haircare products (Cécred). The 42-year-old singer also operates Parkwood Entertainment, a production house that counts athleisure clothing line Ivy Park among its subsidiaries.

Beyoncé is the latest in a long list of celebrities entering the luxury drinks market in recent years — a list that includes Drake, Dwayne Johnson, George Clooney and her own husband Jay-Z, who sold a 50% stake in his champagne brand, Armand de Brignac, to LVMH in 2021.

Moët Hennessy, meanwhile, will be hoping for a larger slice of the burgeoning $5.1-billion US whiskey market. Whiskey now accounts for 62% of all American spirits exports, while the number of distillers has jumped from 35 two decades ago to 2,600 in 2023.

SirDavis be available across the US, and at selected stores in London, Paris, and Tokyo, from September and is expected to retail for $89.

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