For decades, Dr. Bill Lumsden has been one of the most beloved figures in Scotch whisky. Dubbed “The Mad Scientist of Whisky,” he’s served for almost three decades as Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky Stocks for two wildly disparate single malts — Speyside’s sweet, approachable Glenmorangie, and Islay’s smoky, peaty Ardbeg, both owned by LVMH. Dr. Bill is one of the hardest working folks in the booze business, overseeing warehouses of aging whiskies, blending new creations, and experimenting daringly with different methods of distillation and aging. It seems like hardly a month goes by without a new and noteworthy bottling from one of his distilleries. He’s a media personality almost as much as he is a distiller and blender — always happy to talk about what he’s doing, in detail granular enough to satisfy the whisky nerds, but straightforward enough for novices to understand.
In the case of one of his more recent creations, however, Dr. Bill is not only not the focal point, he’s completely unknown to the vast majority of the people who buy it and drink it. Of course, when your collaborator is one of the biggest pop culture superstars of the last few decades, that’s to be expected. What was it like to create SirDavis, the highest-profile whisky of his career (and his first American whiskey in the bargain)? And how did it feel to take a backseat to Beyoncé, or “Mrs. Knowles-Carter,” as he refers to her? Here’s his side of the story, in his own words (edited for brevity and clarity).
About five years ago, the president of Moët Hennessy spirits brands, a gentleman called Jonas Tahlin, phoned me up in Scotland and said that he’s got an exciting project he wanted to speak to me about. He actually made me sign an electronic NDA. And he said, I’m going to tell you about this, but you cannot breathe a word of it to anyone. He said that they had been approached by a very well known celebrity, and this celebrity was a whisky drinker, and she wanted to have her own whisky brand, and wondered if Moët Hennessy would get involved in this.
So I chatted with Jonas. He asked me what I was thinking about it, what sort of things might be possible. And I gave him a few ideas off the top of my head, one of which actually was to mix Glenmorangie with American whiskey. But, you know, that was a silly idea, so we didn’t actually go with that. And then I heard nothing more about it.
So [in 2021] I was at my home in Edinburgh, it was a Sunday morning, and I got a phone call from the gentleman in our company [Caspar MacRae], he’s now the CEO. And he said, Bill, what are you doing tomorrow? And I said, Well, I’m going into my laboratory. I’ve got some new products. And he said, “Do you want to come out to Los Angeles?” Don’t get me wrong, I like Los Angeles, but I’ve been many times. And then he said, “Do you want to come out to Los Angeles and meet Beyoncé?” And I said, why not?
The reason I was drafted in at the last minute was that it was originally going to be Orlin Sorenson, who was the founder and CEO of Woodinville Whiskey. But Orlin got Covid and couldn’t make it, so I was a kind of late substitute.
We met up with Mrs. Knowles-Carter and her representatives in her offices in Hollywood. Our job was to take her through a three hour whiskey tasting seminar. So we tasted Scotch whiskey. We tasted Japanese whiskey, which at that time was her drink of choice. We tasted American whiskey. We tasted Irish whiskey. We spent several days with her and her team in the offices there, and then we left with a much clearer idea of what sort of taste profile she likes in whiskey. And we very quickly worked out that she really is not a fan of our Ardbeg brand. That’s just not what she was looking for at all.
After the tasting event, we worked with Orlin and we started looking to see what would be possible. Now, in some respects, it would have been fabulous for all of us to actually have built our own distillery, but clearly it would then take many, many, many, many years before we would have had a product. So that really wasn’t an option. So we sourced some really interesting whiskeys from our friends at MGP in Indiana, and we tasted quite a few of them. And there was one mashbill in particular that we all thought was fabulous. It’s 51% rye, 49% malted barley, and you won’t find that anywhere else, because we now have exclusivity of supply for that.
The rye brought a little bit of the Americana to it. And obviously, given Mrs. Knowles-Carter’s heritage, we felt it had to be an American whiskey. The malted barley brought a little bit of Scottishness to it. I know she liked single malt whiskey so it was good to have that in there. But we felt there was something missing, and it was the kind of elegance and nuanced flavor that you find, particularly in Japanese whiskeys.
The base whiskey, which was already quite a few years old, had been matured in virgin charred American oak, I decided to have it filled in a range of different types of wine casks. And then Mrs. Knowles-Carter and her entourage met with us again. She flew up to Seattle. and we had four prototypes to let her taste. Now, I knew exactly which one she was going to choose, given her love of Yamazaki. She liked the prototype one we had, which was finishing in PX [Pedro Ximenez] Sherry casks. And that provided the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle.
The whiskey is still distilled in Indiana. The initial maturation is in Indiana, but then the finishing is done in Texas, and we are currently building a facility in Houston. So that’s where the finishing, the blending, the cask selection will take place. And there’s also going to be a brand home there.
It’s been a real pleasure, not just because of who she is, but because of the strength of her vision. From day one, Mrs. Knowles-Carter knew exactly what she wanted SirDavis to represent and how it should taste. My role was simply to help bring that vision to life through my expertise, and I loved the challenge. Mrs. Knowles-Carter remains every bit as involved with the brand as she was at the very start. I may handle the technical craft, things like distillation and flavor development, but it’s her bringing those ideas to the table. From brand strategy and product innovation to little details like new cocktail recipes, she touches every aspect.
I’ve really enjoyed embracing this new kind of collaboration. This wasn’t meant to be another whisky with my name on it, but something she could enjoy and be proud of. And for me, it was a chance to try something new in American whisky, which is always exciting.
I also know that the newer-to-whisky drinkers SirDavis is inviting in might not know who I am, and that’s perfectly fine. But for those in the whisky world who do, I think it adds a layer of trust to what we’re building. This collaboration is about creating something meaningful for both seasoned enthusiasts and new fans alike, and I think it has done exactly that.