Next time you step up to the bar, you might just be tempted to say, “I’ll have what Daddy Yankee’s having.”
The 35-year-old Puerto Rican reggaetonero recently launched his own signature brand of tequila, El Cartel.
It’s the latest entrepreneurial endeavor for Daddy Yankee, who already has a line of luxury watches, high end headphones, a deal with Verizon and a partnership with exercise company Zumba.
“Without a doubt it will be the biggest deal of all and the numbers should be huge. Our aim is to establish El Cartel as not just another tequila but part of the club and party lifestyle,” Daddy Yankee recently told Billboard.com in an interview. “There are several songs where I mention the brand name and a lot of these party songs go hand in hand with the concept of Cartel Tequila.”
Daddy Yankee’s ultra premium tequila is made with estate grown agave tequilana, commonly referred to as blue agave, and was developed with help from agaveros in Jalisco, México. El Cartel is crafted using only the finest hand selected hearts of 100% Weber Blue Agave that have matured for at least nine years. The pinas are slow cooked in brick ovens and then distilled in the age-old traditions.
“There hasn’t been a new luxury Tequila since Patrón,” says former venture capitalist Mark Scialdone, who developed the line with Daddy Yankee. “Nothing else has that status and image.”
El Cartel Tequila claims to have created the first drink with gold and silver edible flakes that float in your glass, rather than sinking to the bottom.
Daddy Yankee and El Cartel Tequila have published details on Twitter about a special meet and greet event in South Beach next month to promote the line.