When Beyoncé sings about “rugged whiskey” and “the dive bar we always thought was cool” on her country album Cowboy Cartershe certainly wasn't talking about her whiskey.
Released in September in partnership with luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy, Queen Bey's SirDavis premium rye whiskey retails for $89 and was inspired by her paternal great-grandfather's legacy as a successful Prohibition-era moonshine maker.
It's the latest product from Beyoncé, who, in addition to performing 56 concerts for her $580 million 2023 Renaissance World tour, also launched a fragrance called CÉ NOIR and a hair care line called Cécred last year time.
Fans are feverishly considering which genre he could re-claim next for a possible Act III album. So why would she spend her precious time and invaluable brand power to launch a whiskey? And how much money can he make from it?
Bulletin board they interviewed a half-dozen alcohol industry experts and top entertainment lawyers, and while they unanimously agreed it's too early to predict sales for SirDavis — which just launched in August — they said the whiskey fits into a modern marketing strategy. treated as Queen Bey's career.
“It's an extension of the marketing push for her latest album, which has references to traditional Americana and American heritage,” he says. Spyros Malandrakishead of spirits research for Euromonitor, referring to Beyoncé's cowboy carter, which came out in April. “What is one of the most iconic products that encapsulates American heritage? It's an American whiskey that has its roots in moonshine.”
Cowboy Carter debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated April 13 with 407,000 equivalent album units earned in the US for the week ending April 4. She has since amassed a total of 1,322,896 equivalent album units, according to Luminate, marking her eighth No. 1 album. Whiskey appears in the lyrics of many Cowboy Carter songs, as are Levi's jeans — spelled “Levii's Jeans” on the track featuring Post Malone — and Queen Bey is currently featured in an ad campaign for the classic denim company.
But given the international nature of its brand, Malandrakis says, Bey's whiskey works to expand its appeal beyond a strictly American audience. SirDavis whiskey dropped it mas the Scots do, and incorporates grains often used in Scotch and Japanese whisky.
“She turns a blind eye to this international side of her brand,” says Malandrakis. “It's a black American icon. It's also just as, potentially even more, an international icon.”
IT'S WORTH A GUN
Celebrity drink deals have the potential to turn superstars into billionaires, like selling Casamigos tequila for George Clooney and before that Cîroc vodka and DeLeón tequila for Sean “Diddy” Combs. Beyoncé's husband Jay-Z made his first liquor deal in 2012 — D'ussé Cognac with Bacardi — and in 2021 sold half of his Ace of Spades champagne to LVMH. As of May, Forbes estimated Beyoncé's net worth at $760 million.
Jordan Bromleyhead of Mannatt's entertainment trading and finance practice, says these kinds of deals can be very lucrative, whether the talent gets a check up front or stays for two or three years to build the brand and then negotiates a big payout when he leaves
Beyoncé x Sir Davis
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“That should be a backdrop to any icon's business portfolio, and not just in drinks, but maybe in homewares, sportswear or venues,” says Bromley, citing Rihanna's Fenty as one of the most successful examples of an artist who became a billionaire thanks to a business outside of his music career. “You don't stress about a label audit — something you should do every two or three years — because you own 20 percent of a billion-dollar company.”
But, Bromely says, there's a danger in icons lending their star power to a product.
“Is there any danger? Absolutely—just the whole trust you've built for your brand,” says Bromley.
The product must be good and it must sell, and the necessary ingredients for these two ingredients are not the same for all products. THE Wall Street Journal reported in 2023 that Beyoncé and Adidas AG ended their collaboration, the “adidas x IVY PARK” collection, after disappointing sales.
With spirits, sources say success usually seems to follow when fans believe a superstar genuinely enjoys drinking alcohol in his spare time.
SirDavis' story claims that Beyoncé has whiskey-making in her blood, and followers of her social media accounts know that she frequently posts about tasting and collecting rare Japanese whiskies.
It is not known whether Beyoncé has an ownership stake in SirDavis, and LVMH, which owns Moët Hennessy, rarely makes sales for its individual products. But Malandrakis says most celebrities leave their liquor company partnerships within a few years with a significant check.
“Not because they lose interest, but they realize that these things have a timetable. At some point Beyonce won't be as relevant, as strange as that sounds,” says Malandrakis. “The longevity of such products ultimately depends on how good they are and how much they create for the community.”
Money Makers is a new column in which Bulletin board unpacks a financial topic a week for an artist in the news. Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions or advice, email me at ediltsmarshall@billboard.com.
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