Beyoncé respects the legacy of those who came before her.
Throughout her decades-long career as a musician and entrepreneur, she has made it her mission to uplift pioneers. Her heart posture has not wavered even in her most recent endeavors, which include “Cowboy Carter.” The country-inspired album placed a spotlight on The Beatles, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Linda Martell while also uplifting the newer generation that have been making their mark, including Shaboozey, who has currently been at the top spot on the Billboard 100 for his single “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” notes Billboard.
SirDavis
As a businesswoman, this is being reflected in the launch of her whiskey brand SirDavis, in partnership with Moët Hennessy. As AFROTECH™ previously mentioned, the American whiskey made with a “bespoke recipe” inspired by Japanese and Scottish styles had been in the works for several years.
“I’ll never forget the first day I had whiskey. It spoke to me nice. I remember thinking, Why have I never had this before? It was strong and warm, just the right amount of challenge,” Beyoncé, 43, told GQ. “I loved the process, the ritual of it. Whiskey isn’t something you just shoot down. It’s a commitment. You gotta have patience. I like that. Then I got into vintage Japanese whiskey and started doing tastings. It opened up a whole new world. I love everything about whiskey. The color, the smell, the way it dances in the glass.… And I love the stories that come with it. Every bottle has a history.”
Legacy
For SirDavis, this history includes the legacy of her paternal great-grandfather Davis Hogue. CNN reports he was a farmer and “moonshiner” during the Prohibition era and would take and hide liquor bottles “in the empty knots of cedar trees for friends and kin to find and enjoy.”
“Our whiskey’s legacy dates back over 200 years to a Black man in Alabama in the 1800s… a man who was a businessman and an entrepreneur, but would have never had the opportunity to create a mainstream whiskey back then. Systemic barriers would not have allowed it,” she mentioned, according to GQ. “But it turns out that my great-grandfather’s hands planted the seed that laid the groundwork, and we honor him in the most profound way. This is more than just a business; it’s a fulfillment of a legacy.”
Opening Doors Alongside Uncle Nearest
Beyoncé also acknowledged the trailblazers who had already taken root in the industry. She highlights Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, which was founded in 2016 by Fawn Weaver. As AFROTECH™ mentioned, the company is amplifying the contributions of Nathan “Nearest” Green, who was the first African-American distiller who shared his knowledge with Jack Daniel while enslaved.
Daniel would go on to find great success, which was on display during the Civil War era as he would sell his Tennessee whiskey to various soldiers, History.com states. Today, the Jack Daniel brand has a valuation of $2.8 billion, mentions Forbes.
For more than 150 years, Green’s contributions had been tucked away until a photo that was taken by Daniel in the late 1800s had appeared in The New York Times’ international edition “Jack Daniel’s Embraces a Hidden Ingredient: Help From a Slave,” according to the Indianapolis Recorder. Weaver read that article, and it inspired the Uncle Nearest venture.
“You have this man, Jack [Daniel], who decided I’m going to take a picture with my leadership team, and I’m going to sit at the center position of the entire photo, Nearest Green’s son. To me, that was him saying, ‘I am going to make sure that America cannot erase him,'” Weaver explained to Ebony magazine. “That was him putting his flag down and going, ‘When I die, I am going to make sure that y’all are not able to forget him.’ And it’s the only reason we’re able to tell the story now, because he and his descendants made sure that they continue to tell the story of Nearest Green.”
Weaver has been proudly carrying the torch of Daniel. Uncle Nearest has become a force in the spirits sector with a valuation of $1.1 billion, per Forbes. It is also the fastest-growing whiskey company in American history.
The company is based on a 458-acre distillery in Shelbyville, TN, and its products lives in more than 30,000 stores, bars, hotels, and restaurants in 12 countries. Additionally, it has received the recognition of the most awarded bourbon and American whiskey from 2019 to 2023, its Instagram states.
The success of the company has also been aided by Victoria Eady Butler, Green’s great-great-granddaughter, who had served in an administrative role at the Nearest Green Foundation and was later tapped to become the company’s master blender when she was able to successfully make a batch of whiskey, a profile in Imbibe magazine mentions.
Beyoncé now joins these powerful Black women in business by building a purposeful company that honors the past and sets a new standard for leadership, innovation, and representation in industries where Black individuals have historically been underrepresented.
“Now, there’s a delicious whiskey, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, named after him, that is run by two women—Nearest Green’s great-great-granddaughter, Victoria Eady Butler, alongside Fawn Weaver. Victoria, in true legacy form to what Mr. Nearest started, is one of the first Black female master blenders in American whiskey. Hopefully, this story, along with others like Victoria’s and Fawn’s, and now mine, will continue to open more doors,” Beyoncé expressed, per GQ.
