Art Legend Jean-Michel Basquiat Honored With Another Limited-Edition Whiskey
Featuring a rendering of famed artist’s 1982 work, “Mecca”, on the bottle.
Curating a home bar is as much about its look and feel as it is about the fine spirits contained within. New York City’s Great Jones Distilling Co. is helping check both of those items off handily with a new whiskey honoring legendary NYC artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
The distillery previously introduced three limited-edition Basquiat bottles last summer, complete with an immersive distillery experience and pop-up bar modeled after Basquiat’s downtown New York City studio. The distillery, the first whiskey distillery in Manhattan since Prohibition, is fittingly nestled just a block away from Basquiat’s former studio in Noho. And in an even more fitting touch, the latest Great Jones Distilling Co. bottle uses the Big Apple as its muse, giving place of pride to the artist’s 1982 work “Mecca,” which traces the NYC skyline.
Dubbed the Great Jones x Jean-Michel Basquiat Empire Edition, the stunning bottle features Great Jones’ signature four-year-old straight bourbon. The 100 percent New York whiskey spirit and its New York City-focused bottle “pays homage to Basquiat’s legacy on Great Jones Street and his contributions to the vibrancy of Downtown Manhattan, yesterday and today,” the distillery said.
The partnership further serves as a toast to “Basquiat’s unequivocal influence on New York City,” the distillery noted. And in true Basquiat fashion, there’s more than meets the eye: The second run of the collaboration also includes an apparel collaboration boasting the artist’s “Mecca” on a t-shirt, sweatshirt and bucket hat.
Art enthusiasts and fans of the pioneering Manhattan distillery should keep an eye out for the latest Basquiat bottle starting July 1st, and it’s sure to move quickly: It’s priced at $39.99 and can be found online via Great Jones or at select New York bars and restaurants. As Great Jones says, it’s both “a tribute to iconic art and exceptional whiskey,” so clear space accordingly in your bar cart.