Everything We Know About Beyoncé’s Rye Whiskey, SirDavis

Update (10: 13 a.m. ET, Aug. 20): Beyoncé officially announced her whiskey brand, SirDavis, on Tuesday. Click here to access our story covering the release, which has more confirmed details. Original story (1:36 a.m. ET, Aug. 20) follows: On Monday, Beyoncé fans noticed an addition to the artist's media website : a folder titled "SIRDAVIS," which showed a bottle of dark liquor with a horse emblem displayed on the front. With the help of some publicly available information accessed via the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, we were able to uncover a few details about the release.

What Is SIRDAVIS?

According to TTB filings, SIRDAVIS is a whiskey — and a rye whiskey, at that. A rye whiskey is a whiskey that is distilled from a mashbill of at least 51% rye grains. The label was filed with the TTB by Gulf Coast Distillers in Houston, Texas — Beyoncé's hometown. An image shared by a Beyoncé fan account on X, B7album , showed a bottle of SIRDAVIS seemingly at a tasting. There's a fact sheet partially visible, but there isn't much to glean from what we can see in the frame. We can see that aside from rye, the mashbill includes malted barley, but that's extremely typical. [caption id="attachment_81572" align="aligncenter" width="450"] (Photo: B7Album/X)[/caption] It's also extremely likely that SIRDAVIS was finished in a secondary cask, thanks to info listed under a heading on the sheet that ends in "ion." Our best guess is this word is maturation, a common word to refer to the types of barrels in which whiskey was aged — or matured. We can see there are two lines under the heading. The first is oak, presumably new oak. The second, however, is a mystery. The only word that can be made out is "Casks." It could be anything. There's also a separate reference to the "finishing" of this whiskey on the fact, sheet, which we'll get to shortly.

What Will SIRDAVIS Rye Whiskey Taste Like?

The only other thing we can learn from the fact sheet is the "aroma" section of the tasting notes. Here's how the nose is described, from what we can make out: "Tangy Seville oranges mingle with [illegible] sun-kissed raisins, while the sizzling spices of clove, cinnamon, and ginger play with [illegible] notes of Demerara sugar and toffee."

Who Owns the Trademark for SIRDAVIS?

The trademark for "SIRDAVIS" is owned by Moët Hennessy SAS, which applied for the trademark on June 24, 2022. Moët Hennessy is famous for alcohol brands like Hennessy, Moët Champagne, Veuve Cliquot, Ardbeg, Belvedere, Chandon, Dom Pérignon and Glenmorangie. In 2021, Moët Hennessy purchased a 50% stake in Armand de Brignac, the Champagne brand owned by Jay-Z, Beyoncé's husband. Additionally, this spring, SIRDAVIS LLC filed trademarks for illustrations reading "THE FUTURE OF WHISKY IS HERE" and "CALL ME SIR." Trademarks for both phrases were filed for use in the context of alcohol but also for clothing, footwear and headwear.

Who's Producing SIRDAVIS Rye Whiskey?

As mentioned above, the most recent filing for this product was by Gulf Coast Distillers, a DBA for Houston's Buffalo Bayou Distilleries. Interestingly, though, this wasn't always the case. The first filing for this property came from a different Texas distillery; in November 2023, Austin's beloved indie distillery Still Austin received label approval for a "SIR DAVIS" rye whiskey. Nine days later, the TTB granted it label approval for a "SIRDAVIS" rye whiskey label with the space between "SIR" and "DAVIS" removed. Nothing else surfaced of the release until Jan. 30 of this year, when the TTB approved Gulf Coast Distillers for the same "SIRDAVIS" label. This indicates that Beyoncé may have initially intended to bottle her rye with Still Austin but shifted to Gulf Coast Distillers. The reason for the change is unclear. One could speculate there's an appeal in releasing a whiskey from the city the star is from, but Still Austin is certainly the more critically acclaimed distillery. However, the whiskey itself may not have been produced by Buffalo Bayou — or in Texas at all. We can see from the fact sheet referenced earlier that the whiskey was "finished, blended & bottled in Texas." That line features a conspicuous absence of reference to where the whiskey was distilled, or produced. If it was in Texas, however, we're pretty sure they'd want to advertise that fact.

Where Did the Name SIRDAVIS Come From?

We have no real idea where the name SIRDAVIS came from, but we're sure Beyoncé will tell us when she officially rolls out the bottling. The first part could be a nod to her son, whose name is Sir. As for Davis — unclear. The singer's most recent album featured a track called "BODYGUARD," which had a lyric "Wheels in the gravel, Davis in my bones," but it's unclear what that line refers to. Some fans have speculated it was a reference to the iconic jazz musician Miles Davis, but really, who knows?

When Will We Know More?

It's unclear when Beyoncé will officially announce SIRDAVIS. However, we should be able to access the full labels on the bottle shortly via the TTB. At the time of this article's writing, there appeared to be an issue with the TTB website that prevented us from viewing these labels, but we're working to access them. Accessing these labels will provide us with more information, such as the ABV of the whiskey. Be sure to check back for more updates about Beyonce's SIRDAVIS Rye Whiskey. [newsletter-promo]