It’s been a big year for Beyoncé. Last September 4th, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter simultaneously celebrated a birthday and launched SirDavis American Whisky in partnership with Moët Hennessy. Since then, the whisky has received awards and accolades gone on to lite up the Plaza Athenee at Paris Fashion Week, toured the world as the official spirit of the Cowboy Carter Tour and planted its Texas roots as an official sponsor with The Houston Livestock Show. SirDavis is finished, blended and bottled in her hometown of Houston Texas with plans for expansion. By associating themselves with not just livestock but concerts, culture and more, the brand has not only solidified their place in Houston’s bar carts but its arts and culture scene. The whisky and the rodeo may already be star studded event but now with a little more horse power.
So how did Beyoncé come to be a part of a whisky brand in the first place? SirDavis master blender Cameron George, global head of advocacy, explains that it was her love of the spirit. “When we started this journey with our founder a number of years ago, we sat with her and we tasted whiskies from all around the world.” Explains George. The winners were clear.
Knowles-Carter looked into her own past and named SirDavis in honor of Davis Hogue, her paternal great-grandfather. Like many farmers during prohibition, he used excess grain to made his moonshine. He was known to tuck whisky bottles into knots and holes in surrounding cedar trees to share with family and friends. Knowles knew that her signature spirit had to be whisky but not just any whisky. There needed to be a very particular flavor profile. Knowles-Carter is already a Japanese whisky fan and she approached Moët Hennessy to find the perfect flavor profile to reflect her tastes in an authentic yet elevated way.
“We tasted Yamazaki 18. We tasted Glenmorangie Lasanta. Those were her favorite. They’re both malted barley and they’re both sherried whiskies.” Says George. “So that should tell you where we landed with Sir Davis, using a lot of malted barley and then some sherry cask finishing as well.”
While the marriage of a subsidiary of LVMH may sound like opposites attract, Sir Davis is more of a look at the future of American whisky. Whisky is a global category with some version of the spirit made on every continent. Considering that it is the fermentation of cereal grains that are then aged in an oak vessel, there is a lot of room for experimentation and personal taste. Moët Hennessy tapped Dr. Bill Lumsden to lead the distilling process. He is one of the most awarded Master Distillers worldwide with previous work on Scotch whisky brands Glenmorangie and Ardbeg. Lumsden then utilized some of the more traditional whisky-making techniques for an elegant mouthfeel and texture as a nod to Japanese and Scotch whiskies. Yet the backbone and flavors are uniquely those of American rye.
“Our recipe for SirDavis is 51%rye and 49% malted barley and that’s an incredibly unique mash bill because you’re using grain that is so fundamentally American.” George explains. “Rye was the grain that grew really well in that microclimate so rye became the main grain used before the category was even formulated because has incredibly deep root structures it really thrives in acidic environments and it also loves cold weather climates.”
Many people consider themselves aficionados and when doing a tasting or enjoying a neat pour like to emphasize proper technique. So how does one actually taste the spirit correctly? Commonly, whisky enthusiasts are encouraged to do a pronounced swirl. George has a slight variation on that technique.
“I generally rock it very gently back and forth. I don’t want to volatize any of those chemically light compounds and encourage them to evacuate the glass before I’m ready.” Says George. “I’m also looking for residuals and how it behaves. I think that malted barley is the most unique and powerful grain to make whisky.”
“You can see that the rye spice leads up front there’s something a little bit earthy and spicy up there. There’s a copper amber color. It’s Pedro Jimenez sherry cask. They lend a lot to us in color as well as flavor.” George enthuses. “What I love about this whiskey is that the mash bill shines through even though this is a finished whisky.”
Knowles-Carter was also heavily involved the brand’s bottle design. The tall ribbed glass bottle stands out behind the bar and the black medallion features a bronzed horse to symbolize the strength and respect and is a nod to Knowles-Carter’s Texas roots. SirDavis is also Moët Hennessy’s first spirits brand developed entirely internally by Moët Hennessy in the United States.