Ja Rule targets ‘whiskey curious’ with Amber & Opal
A dream between four friends – including hip-hop legend Ja Rule – to create a spirit brand became reality last year. Now, the quartet are excited to introduce their honey botanical whiskey Amber & Opal to wider audience.
A self-confessed non-whiskey drinker prior to Amber & Opal, Livin’ It Up hip-hop artist Ja Rule is not only a brand co-founder, but an example of Amber & Opal’s target audience.
“I really can say that Amber & Opal is truly my first experience in indulging in whiskey, and enjoying whiskey as a beverage,” Ja Rule tells The Spirits Business. “In the past, I dabbled in other liquors, but I’m not a ‘whiskey drinker’ per se. Our brand is a perfect introduction for people like me – we like to call them the ‘whiskey curious’.
“I’m now a whiskey drinker. Amber & Opal has definitely turned me on to whiskey in a way that I didn’t think was possible for me.”
It’s a brand born from long-term friendships with entrepreneurs and co-founders Herb Rice, Kelvin Barton and Sandy Sandiford. “We’re very excited to be doing this together as a group of four bandits – banditos – from the ghettos of America,” laughs Ja Rule.
Amber & Opal made its debut in Maryland, US, in 2024, created at the Baltimore Spirits Company distillery. Following a warm reception in Maryland, the honey botanical whiskey is now available in New York, California, New Jersey and Florida, and online throughout the US via seelbachs.com, and at select Total Wine locations in certain markets. More states are set to follow in the coming months – and the group is excited about bringing new drinks along for the journey.
With the recent roll out, Ja Rule links seeing Amber & Opal on shelves to hearing his songs on the radio for the first time. Seeing Amber & Opal out in the wild still also feels dream-like for Sandiford: “It’s crazy to watch [it grow] from inception and now to see it on shelves. Like, you can buy it. You can touch it. This is real. I had to sit back a minute a few weeks ago and I was like, ‘Is this something that’s really happening?’”
“The natural tendency is to want to get out to every state and get in as many stores as possible,” Rice continues. “We’ve taken a very methodical approach, and we’re very targeted in markets we want to launch in. We want to host activations, we want to get an opportunity to get in front of people, to tell our story about Amber & Opal, to be able to make Ja get behind the bar and make drinks for people, you know, really create experiences for folks.”
Is Ja Rule a secret cocktail maestro? The jury’s out…
“I’m the best; there’s no one like me – one of one,” he shouts, over strong, “no, no”, from his friends and co-founders.
Amber & Opal blends Maryland Straight Rye Whiskey, which has been aged for two years in medium-charred oak barrels, with flavours of orange blossom honey, smoky black tea, and spiced herbal notes of cinnamon, ginger and fig.
Using rye whiskey as the base was a no-brainer for co-founder Rice, a long-time whiskey drinker with particular penchant for rye.
“I drink all varieties of whiskey; rye happens to be my favourite. But I’ll dabble in a good Scotch or a good Bourbon,” he says. “When we were creating this product, we knew we wanted to create something that was flavourful. We knew that going into the crowded whiskey category, we had to do something to distinguish and differentiate ourselves from the thousands of other brands that were on show. We knew that flavour was going to be the thing that was going to separate us and we knew that the rye blend would really go well with honey and the botanicals that we use to infuse the product.”
Amber & Opal’s name was also chosen to reflect key qualities the brand holds dear. ‘Amber’ to represent tradition and warmth, and ‘Opal’ to celebrate diversity and vibrancy. Created to be sipped neat, on the rocks or mixed in cocktails, the co-founders hope to democratise the whiskey space further with Amber & Opal’s “versatility”.
Bringing more people of colour into whiskey
“We went into this knowing the whiskey category has traditionally been dominated by older white men,” says Rice. “There’s not a tonne of diversity in that space. So, what we wanted to do, was create a product that had four Black guys as the face of it, but we wanted to create a product that was, to Ja’s point, a point of entry; something that wouldn’t be off-putting for people that traditionally hadn’t drank whiskey. For a lot of people, their first experience with whiskey wasn’t pleasant. We wanted to change that narrative, to make something more approachable, less intimidating. We wanted to bring more people of colour on board, bring more women on board, and change the face of the whiskey category.”
Ja Rule adds: “Typically, whiskey has been marketed for white men, aesthetically businessmen, you know, golfers. We wanted to shift that. That shift is actually happening right in front of our very eyes. As you see other whiskey brands breaking into the business, you see Beyoncé’s SirDavis coming into the business, plenty more women coming to the fold.”
The spirits sector has seen a high influx of celebrity-backed and founded brands in the last few years, from Brother’s Bond Bourbon, co-founded by The Vampire Diaries actors Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, and Teremana Tequila, co-founded by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, as just two examples.
However, Ja Rule – despite his celebrity status – is clear he doesn’t want Amber & Opal to be seen as just another “celebrity brand”. Opening up the whiskey category to more people of colour, more women, and more ‘whiskey curious’ drinkers is what he hopes Amber & Opal will be known for.
“Look at what Fawn Weaver has been able to do with her brand and the nod to Uncle Nearest, and the whole story behind it, and what they’ve been able to do in a short space of time,” Ja Rule says. “We are champions of our culture and of our communities. And so, we are always happy to see others doing it, especially women of colour. So, big up to their brands.”
For Sandiford, he believes American whiskey is on the cusp of becoming the spirit of choice, following in the footsteps of gin, vodka and Tequila booms.
“I believe this is whiskey’s turn,” he states. “I’m happy to be at the forefront of it, especially being men of colour. We didn’t have many men of colour, or people of colour [in whiskey]. Like my brothers said, we have Beyoncé, which brings more light to us. And I think it helps us catapult ourselves to where we’re going. The brand has been growing tremendously. We’ve been getting a lot of traction and I’m happy to see where we’re going and where we’ll end. It’s a beautiful ride.”
Ja Rule isn’t naïve to the benefits his fame also affords the brand, however. “We’re not going to sit there and be naïve and sit in our perks,” he adds. “But we want to take a more organic approach. So people, when they see the brand, they don’t see it as a celebrity brand. They see it as a brand first, and then it happens to be owned by [a celebrity]. That’s the statement we want to make.”
Where music and whiskey meet
Ja Rule’s music industry experience is also helping to build the brand’s strategy. He draws parallels between market growth in music to explain why New York, New Jersey, California and Florida were chosen as the next market launches.
“I look at things on how I’ve been very successful in music,” he explains. “So, if you look at a market like California, it’s the same [in music and whiskey]. If you can do well in California, in Los Angeles, it’ll trickle down to San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco. Same thing on the East Coast. If you can do well in New York, you can trickle down to New Jersey, Virginia, Baltimore, DC. It’s the same as it is for music. If you was on the radio in New York City, you would get the trickle down. If you was on the radio in Los Angeles, you would get the trickle down. I feel the same way with alcohol in some aspect. If we own these markets, we will get these other trickle-down markets to say: ‘We need this beverage,’ and we can branch out.”
Sticking with music, if the trio could share Amber & Opal with any musician, dead or alive, who would it be?
Rice, quick to answer, says: “I would love to sit down and just have a toast with Marvin Gaye, and talk about life in the US during his time, especially as a Black man growing up during those times when he was popular and just the struggle. That’d be an interesting conversation over a glass of whiskey.”
Sandiford picks Bob Marley, while Ja Rule says: “I would probably pick, as I’m looking at his painting on the wall, my guy, Jimi Hendrix,” two answers that result in an eruption of laughter from all three. But some discussions that happen on the Zoom call have to stay on the Zoom call. What’s apparent, though, is Amber & Opal is a whiskey brand born out of entrepreneurial spirit, friendship and a love of community. This is a brand ready to pour some fun back into whiskey – and it’s only getting started.
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