HOUSTON — Beyoncé has a new venture and it's already winning awards and turning heads.
The H-Town native teamed up with Moët Hennessy to create SirDavis, a luxury whiskey years in the making that's headquartered in Houston.
“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," Beyoncé 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."
Beyoncé says her paternal great-grandfather, Davis Hogue, was a successful moonshiner during Prohibition who would stash his bottles in the knots of cedar trees for friends and family to find and enjoy. The SirDavis website features a poetic letter to Hogue from Beyoncé. "I feel you in the heart of the landscapes, your laughter rolling in the rye," it begins. "For you, I raise my glass to legacy. We ride the movement. We savor the moment."
Beyoncé tapped into her love of Japanese whisky [spelled without the "e" used for U.S. and Irish blends] and worked with Moet Hennessy's award-winning master distiller Dr. Bill Lumsden to craft SirDavis.
"I think together we've risen to something that I'm hugely excited about. And I think whisky drinkers are going to be blown away because it's really quite different from anything I've tasted before," Lumsden said.
SirDavis recently won Best In Class for American Whiskey from the 2023 SIP Awards, outperforming over 100 other entries in the category. It received a gold medal (95 points) at the 2023 New York International Spirits Competition and a 93-point rating from the 2023 Ultimate Spirits Challenge.
Beyoncé also designed the SirDavis bottle which features a regal bronzed horse on a black medallion, a nod to her Texas roots and similar to her recent history-making album, "Act II: Cowboy Carter."
SirDavis is finished, blended and bottled in the Lone Star State and the website features cocktail recipes, including "The Houston" and "Texas Buckiin.'"
It retails for $89 and is available for pre-order via SirDavis.com. It will be available at retail stores and select airports (LAX, JFK and SFO) in September.
