Inside the Mysterious Rise and Fall of Jay-Z’s Armadale Vodka, the Original Rapper-Owned Spirits Brand

Few would deny Jay-Z's business expertise. The rapper-turned-executive-turned-billionaire has spun a vast empire from his beginnings at Roc-A-Fella Records, venturing from real estate to sports teams and beyond as he climbs his way up and down the Forbes net worth rankings. Two of his most successful brands — Armand de Birgnac Champagne and D'USSÉ Cognac — have spun off into empires of their own, complete with hundred-million-dollar acquisitions and endorsement deals. But relatively little is known about Armadale Vodka, a brand Jay-Z attempted to start in 2002 alongside his then-business partner, Damon Dash. It was, for all intents and purposes, the original rapper-owned alcohol brand, launching at a time before celebrity liquor had oversaturated the market to kingdom come. Despite all the making of a smash hit, the imported Scottish vodka came and went within the span of about three years. The story of Armadale is tumultuous, defined by broken promises, a vanishing product and a high-profile feud that erupted among music moguls in the mid-2000s. Much of that history has not officially been told, leaving fans to piece together fragments of truth (and rumor) to assemble the full picture. The biggest question that remains: Why was Jay-Z's original liquor venture effectively scrubbed from history?

Origins of Armadale

[caption id="attachment_97447" align="aligncenter" width="600"] (Photo: Armadale)[/caption] Everything was looking up for Roc-A-Fella Records at the turn of the century. Jay-Z's debut studio album, "Reasonable Doubt," had proved a breakout success on the Billboard 200, paving the way for a 50:50 deal with Def Jam that would quickly turn the label into a household name. Roc-A-Fella was picking up artists like Beanie Sigel and The Diplomats; label-produced movies like "Paper Soldiers" were being disturbed by Universal Pictures. The same year that Roc-A-Fella signed a then-unknown Kanye West to the label, it decided to branch out into the spirits market. Founders Damon Dash, Kareem "Biggs" Burke and Jay-Z traveled across the pond to partner with one of the biggest names in the industry — William Grant and Sons, a Scottish distiller best known today for brands like Hendrick's Gin and Glenfiddich scotch. Armadale, in contrast, was a complete unknown to both Scottish and American consumers. The triple-distilled wheat and barley vodka was unassuming in all qualities apart from the massive marketing push it was soon to witness. Never ones to shy away from a gamble, the Roc-A-Fella team purchased the rights and began rolling out the product in New York, Los Angeles and Miami in 2002. Burke reportedly chose the brand name after seeing the Armadale Castle on the Scottish island of Skye.

"Roc-A-Fella has always respected quality vodkas, such as Belvedere and Grey Goose. Just like we do with all of our businesses, we wanted to present a vodka that represented the best, and we feel Armadale is of elite quality," Dash said in a press release.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, a then 31-year-old Damon Dash said he spent $100,000 on marketing for Armadale in the year of its launch. He also mentioned that Roc-A-Fella artists were "encouraged" but not required to plug the brand in their songs. A few months prior, Cam'ron had shown off a couple of bottles in the music video for his hit 2002 single, "Oh Boy." Jay-Z later declared on "The Blueprint": "Nike Airs, Mean bucket, Armadale in the club, couple of duckets." [caption id="attachment_97378" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Dash holding bottle of Armadale at the at the 'Rocawear/Elle-Girl-Event' in Berlin, Germany, 2004. (Photo: Soeren Stache/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)[/caption] Anyone familiar with Roc-A-Fella's meteoric rise in the early 2000s would've heard about or seen the brand at least once. The vodka was touted on stage, rolled out on the red carpet and printed onto graphic t-shirts that now demand prices of nearly $130 on eBay. At the time, this type of synergized self-promotion was treated as something of a novelty. Keep in mind that Sean Combs was still five years off from joining Cîroc Vodka and George Clooney a full decade away from the blockbuster launch of Casamigos Tequila. Celebrity-owned alcohol wasn't in the vernacular. As if announcing the invention of lightning in a  bottle, the WSJ article was titled; "Record Label Uses Hip-Hip To Profit on Vodka Venture." In an article detailing the Armadale "controversy" in 2003, Fox News published a quote that read;

"You don't see James Bond binge drinking before he goes out on one of his escapades — the movies depict moderate, responsible drinking among adults. I'm not confident the images being represented through the music is of adult, moderate, responsible drinking."

A Quiet Flop

Jay-Z's multi-million-dollar fallout with Damon Dash is one of the most publicized feuds in music history. Whether or not that battle precipitated the fall of Armadale is unclear, though it does appear that the brand may have been a failure in its own right. An article from Forbes mentions that the Armadale "quietly flopped in the mid-2000s" without providing much more detail. Bottles began to vanish from shelves as early as 2005 without any official word from the brand; no mention of a discontinuation, pause or even a restructuring. The vodka's disappearance coincided neatly with the end of Roc-A-Fella Records, indicating that the fate of one may have spelled doom for the other. In a recent interview, Dash broke the silence on Armadale with a few jabs at his former business partner. It is the only time that an ex-Roc-A-Fella executive has spoken publicly on the brand's fate.

"Let's take it to the liquor," Dash said. "We were the first ones with a liquor, it was Armadale. You know what homeboy [Jay-Z] did? He did an ad for Belvedere. For free. So we have the meeting, me and Biggs, and we're like, 'why would you do an ad for Belvedere for free or for anything when we got our own vodka?' We lost all negotiation power from them, and they dumped us."

Advertising seemed to be a consistent point of issue. Several bloggers have reiterated a story referred to within message boards as the "Kevin Bacon/Naomi Campbell fiasco." Supposedly, Dash had grown close with actor Kevin Bacon during production of the film "The Woodsman" and attempted to recruit him for an Armadale ad. The cost of a single print campaign featuring Bacon and actress Naomi Campbell would've reportedly cost the team $3 million. Roc-A-Fella is said to have vetoed the idea, leading Jay-Z and Dash to end speaking terms. This account has not been confirmed by anyone within the Roc-A-Fella camp. In 2004, Def Jam Recordings purchased the remaining stakes in Roc-A-Fella Records and promoted Jay-Z to the position of CEO and President. Dash and Burke left the team to create their own label, Dame Dash Music Group, which quickly sputtered into virtual nonexistence. The rest is liquor history. Jay-Z founded Armand de Birgnac Champagne in 2006 and D'USSÉ Cognac in 2012, brands that he would eventually sell stakes in for $315 million and $750 million, respectively. His venture capital firm, Marcy Venture Partners, continues to invest in up-and-comers like Miles Teller's The Finnish Long Drink. Last summer, Beyonce — Jay-Z's wife — unveiled SirDavis American Whisky alongside LVMH, the same conglomerate Jay-Z partners with on his champagne. Were you to Google "Jay-Z's first liquor brand," Armadale would show up nowhere on the first or second page of results. The brand retains but an inkling of a virtual footprint.

The Future (?)

Roc-A-Fella's dissolution seems like it would be the end of the story. No record label, no owner, no vodka. But — lo and behold — it appears that the rights for Armadale were picked up behind the scenes for repurposing down the road. We found a Facebook page titled "Armadale Vodka Pacific Northwest" that was active until 2018. The page has all the fixings of a typical brand social media feed, complete with a PR email and website, a handful of well-produced ads and a series of flyers for hip-hop concerts in North Carolina that were endorsed with Armadale signage. There are even mock-up images for an Armadale Vodka app. [caption id="attachment_97282" align="aligncenter" width="450"] (Photo: Armadale Vodka Pacific Northwest/Facebook)[/caption] The would-be relaunch had a celebrity benefactor in six-time NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp. In 2016, the athlete encouraged users on Twitter to download the app (which, based on screenshots floating around the Internet, appears to have been a store locator and Armadale news hub bundled into one). In a video posted on the Armadale Vodka Pacific Northwest page, Kemp declared with bottle in hand:

"2017 release of Armadale vodka. All of us has been waiting for it, we're so happy that it's coming this summer. So ladies and gents, here we are, back on top, the top choice, Armadale vodka baby."

Armadale's revival bore completely different packaging and logos from its early-2000s counterpart. However, scroll down far enough on the Facebook page and you'll find images of the original Armadale vodka at its glorious Roc-A-Fella-era peak. The two brands are one and the same. We reached out to Armadale Vodka Pacific Northwest and received an automated "Address Not Found" error message. Though the page and its vodka went defunct in 2018, it appears to have either been bought or restructured into a new entity dubbed Armadale Spirits. This final form of the company advertises only a single beverage on its website — an Armadale Vodka Blue Raspberry Sparkling Soda. Don't get your hopes up if you're hunting for memorabilia. The soda can't be purchased anywhere online, and its Instagram page has gone private. The trademark for the product was last registered in 2023. [caption id="attachment_97421" align="aligncenter" width="600"] (Photo: Armadale Spirits)[/caption] And so, Armadale Vodka ends not with a bang but a carbonated fizzle. If anyone knew about the brand, it would be easy to imagine it as a coveted collector's item, the kind of discontinued goodie religiously sought out by spirits or rap history die-hards. But time has not been so kind to Jay-Z's original alcohol. A bottle of Armadale was recently sold on Whiskey Auctioneer at a winning bid of $41 — about eight dollars lower than its retail price in 2002 adjusted for inflation. [callout-app-promo]