"..Can we stand for something? Now is the time to face the wind, let love in, together, can we stand? Looka there, liquor in my hand, the grandbaby of a moonshine man.." -American Requiem, Beyonce Knowles-Carter
I wonder if Beyonce realizes just how off-guard she caught the entire whiskey industry with the launch of SirDavis. This is a big deal. Celebrities enter the space every day (her husband has been here for over 10 years) and while intentions and quality vary, there's a consistency in the pattern as consistent as the players on the back bar: it's rarely women, and when it is, it's almost never in whiskey (I say almost because that ceiling broke with Big Nose Kate Whiskey's partnership with Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone #humblebrag). In the last 36 hours I've been asked 20, 30 times what my take is on the development and I have something to say. (this one's for you Karen Locke).
Beyonce launching an American Whiskey is not good.
Beyonce launching an American Whiskey is THE GREATEST VALIDATION OF THE WORK BEING DONE EVERYDAY BY GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS TO MAKE WHISKEY MORE INCLUSIVE AND REPRESENTATIVE OF TODAY'S INDUSTRY LANDSCAPE.
sorry, stuck in caps.
Work led by individual champions in the industry like Peggy Noe Stevens, Becky Paskin, Amanda Victoria (Mintz) with pioneers like Hollis B Worth, Rebecca Harris, Tracie Franklin, Allison Parc, Marianne Eaves, Jane Bowie along with groups such as OurWhisky Foundation, Black Bourbon Society, Spirited Women Collective, Bourbon Women and The The Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling (The MJF); all who advocate for and advance diversity in the whiskey landscape. These voices are loud but have never had an audience of 400 million. I like to think that our collective shouting made an echo; one so loud that Beyonce shouted back.
Long live the Queen.
ta ta,
Mel
#WhiskeyIndustry #DiversityAdvocacy #Beyonce #SirDavis #OurWhiskyFoundation #BlackBourbonSociety #TheMJF #LFG #toasttothefutureofwhisky
wow - congratulations! a dream duo 💚