Beyoncé launches whisky brand with Moet Hennessy
Photo credit: MasonPoole (left) and Julian Dakdouk (right)
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has launched a new whiskey in collaboration with Moët Hennessy, making the singer-songwriter the first female A-list celebrity to found a whisky brand.
SirDavis is an American straight rye whiskey designed to combine Knowles-Carter’s longstanding passion for whisky with her Texan roots and familial ties to distilling.
Produced by the Davis Hogue Distilling Company, a new 50:50 joint venture between Moët Hennessy and Knowles-Carter, SirDavis is named after the singer’s great-grandfather, Davis Hogue, who was a farmer and moonshiner in Alabama during Prohibition.
According to the family, Hogue would stash bottles of moonshine in empty knots of cedar trees for friends and family to discover.
Knowles-Carter said: “When I discovered that my great-grandfather had been a moonshine man, it felt like my love for whisky was fated. SirDavis is a way for me to pay homage to him, uniting us through a new shared legacy.”
Knowles-Carter approached Moët Hennessy – producer of Glenmorangie and Ardbeg Scotch whisky – and master distiller Dr Bill Lumsden, to create a whisky that was reminiscent of her preferred Japanese styles.
Distilled by MGP in Indiana with a mash bill of 51% rye to 49% malted barley, the whiskey is finished in PX casks before being blended and bottled at 44% abv in Houston, Texas – Knowles-Carter’s hometown.
Lumsden said: “With SirDavis, we looked to challenge the category norms and offer something new in the space. The distinctive grain selection and unusual secondary maturation in sherry casks helped us achieve a signature profile completely unique to SirDavis, one of bold sophistication.”
While Knowles-Carter consulted on the whiskey’s recipe throughout the process, she also lent her artistic vision to the bottle’s design, including its simple bronzed horse medallion as a nod to her Texan roots.
“In partnering with Moët Hennessy, we have crafted a delicious American whisky that respects tradition but also empowers people to experience something new and unique in the category,” Knowles-Carter added.
In launching SirDavis, Knowles-Carter becomes the first female A-list celebrity to found a whisky brand. The only other whisky financially backed by a female celebrity is Bourbon brand Big Nose Kate, which Bridesmaid’s actress Melissa McCarthy invested in alongside husband Ben Falcone in 2022.
SirDavis officially launches in the UK, US, Paris, Tokyo and select airports on 4th September at £79.
The Davis Hogue Distilling Company also intends to erect warehousing and bottling lines alongside a brand home in Houston in Summer 2025.
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