Global superstar Beyoncé has teamed up with Moët Hennessy to launch a new American whisky called SirDavis. Created in partnership with celebrated whisky-maker Dr. Bill Lumsden, SirDavis marries the flavour profile of American rye with the texture imparted by a finishing period in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks and is named in honour of Beyoncé’s great-grandfather.
The multi-award winning singer-songwriter has long been vocal about her love of whisky, which was the starting point for this project. ‘I’ve always been drawn to the power and confidence I feel when drinking quality whisky and wanted to invite more people to experience that feeling,’ Beyoncé says.
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Beyoncé’s desire was to create a whisky that reflected the smooth, easy-drinking elements she appreciates in Japanese whisky but as an American-made and matured liquid. As one of the world’s most awarded and highly regarded master distillers, Dr. Bill Lumsden was the obvious choice for the project, particularly given his existing connections with Moët Hennessy following his work on products in their Scotch whisky portfolio.
‘With SirDavis, we looked to challenge the category norms and offer something new in the space,’ says Lumsden, before explaining the process of developing an American whisky that has a bespoke mash bill composed of 51% rye and 49% malted barley as its backbone. Distilled in Indiana and initially matured in both first fill and refill American white oak barrels, the whisky is then moved to Texas, Beyoncé’s home state, for a final period of maturation, where it is also blended and bottled.
I’ve always been drawn to the power and confidence I feel when drinking quality whisky and wanted to invite more people to experience that feeling
The high rye content of the whisky was a challenge for Lumsden, with the grain traditionally adding heavily spiced flavours and dry notes to whisky, which are at odds with a smoother, Japanese style. Yet Lumsden had a solution. In his work with the Glenmorangie brand, Lumsden pioneered the art of ‘finishing’ whisky, the process of moving mature whisky into more active casks for a final, short period of time to impart additional flavour and complexity. He used that experience here, explaining that the team ‘used rich Pedro Ximenez (PX sherry) casks for our secondary maturation in Texas, which helped us achieve a signature profile completely unique to SirDavis.’
The result is a whisky that is built on traditional American whisky-making techniques, yet matured in Texas, in flavoursome Spanish PX casks, bringing together the robust and deep flavours typical of classic American rye, with a velvety texture imparted by the sherry casks. The whisky is non-chill filtered, allowing it to retain even more texture, and is bottled at 44% abv (88 proof).
Alongside her work with Lumsden on the whisky itself, Beyoncé has been the driving force on both the brand and the bottle. Housed in a tall, elegant, ribbed-glass bottle, the whisky’s logo is a bronze horse, emblematic of strength and respect, and a symbol of Beyoncé’s Texas roots. Even the spelling, whisky without the ‘e’, is designed to position SirDavis alongside Scotch and Japanese whiskies as a more premium, luxury product.
In another nod to Beyoncé’s heritage, the SirDavis name is designed to honour her paternal great-grandfather, Davis Hogue, who was a farmer and a moonshine distiller in the American South during Prohibition. For Beyoncé, it was this discovery that made the idea of creating a legacy whisky brand feel predestined, four generations later: ‘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.’
When I discovered that my great-grandfather had been a moonshine man, it felt like my love for whisky was fated
Is SirDavis to be mixed in to cocktail or for sipping? Lumsden is adamant the whisky is mature enough for sipping either neat or simply over ice (both of which we tried together and both of which worked very well indeed). Cocktails have not been forgotten, however, and Beyoncé reportedly mixes SirDavis into her signature cocktail, a Honey Bee (a mix of honey, lemon juice and whisky, shaken with ice, strained and served in a rocks glass). She also likes it neat, the same way she drinks Scotch and Japanese whiskies. SirDavis is ‘a delicious American whisky that respects tradition but also empowers people to experience something new and unique. You can taste it better than I could ever tell you,’ Beyoncé says.
This, the first bottling from SirDavis, is available to order from SirDavis.com for $89.99 in the US and is on sale for £79 from a select group of shops in the UK. It is also available in the French and Japanese markets. More expressions and age-stated releases are planned.
Beyoncé's SirDavis rye whisky: the verdict
