Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is getting into the booze business. Fresh off a chart-topping country album and the launch of a haircare line, the superstar has joined up with LVMH subsidiary Moët Hennessy to create a new American whiskey called SirDavis.
The US$89 a bottle whiskey is composed of 51% rye and 49% malted barley, and its creation was led by master distiller Bill Lumsden, known for his work at Scotland’s Glenmorangie and Ardbeg.
The whiskey’s name was inspired by Beyoncé’s paternal great-grandfather, Davis Hogue, a farmer who made moonshine during Prohibition in the American South. Knowles-Carter says that when she learned how Hogue stashed away whiskey bottles in empty knots of cedar trees for his family and friends to find, it made the the idea of her launching a whiskey brand feel "predestined.” A lyric from the song Bodyguard on Cowboy Carter is, "Wheels in the gravel, Davis in my bones.”
In a nod to Knowles-Carter’s Houston roots, SirDavis will be finished, blended and bottled in Texas. The glass bottle-with its horse medallion-also recalls the Lone Star State. The whiskey will be available in September in the US, as well as in London, Paris, and Tokyo.
Knowles-Carter’s husband, Jay-Z, also has an alcohol brand owned by LVMH. In 2021, Moët Hennessy bought a 50% stake in Armand de Brignac, a Champagne producer owned by the hip-hop star and businessman.
Celebrity-owned alcohol brands have taken off in recent years; the most successful is George Clooney’s Casamigos tequila and Ryan Reynolds’ Aviation gin, both of which were bought by beverage giant Diageo Plc for as much as US$1.6bil. Bruno Mars bet on rum, while Cate Blanchett is the creative director for a sake brand.
It’s not Beyoncé’s first team-up with the world’s biggest luxury company. She starred in ad campaigns for Tiffany, and last month she introduced team USA during the Paris Olympics, of which LVMH was the premium sponsor.
Sales growth at the luxury giant did slow last quarter however, as wealthy shoppers reined in spending on pricey handbags and champagne. Shares are down more than 11% over the past 12 months. – Bloomberg
