2026/06/12
ROLLING STONE SPIRIT AWARDS
A shared frequency
Heavensake and the Rolling Stone Revolution
When the world's most iconic music publication opens its doors to sake, it signals something far greater than an award. It marks a cultural tectonic shift, one that HEAVENSAKE has been orchestrating since day one.
A New Category. A New Era.
Rolling Stone has spent six decades defining what matters in music and culture. Its Spirit Awards have long been a barometer of taste, a curated compass pointing toward the bottles worthy of attention. Whisky. Tequila. Gin. Mezcal. These categories have lived on the list for years.
Until now, sake was absent.
The 2025 Rolling Stone Spirit Awards changed that. For the first time in the publication's history, sake earned its own place among the world's finest spirits. And the expression chosen to represent this breakthrough? HEAVENSAKE Prestige I, our ultra-premium Junmai Daiginjo composed in collaboration with the legendary Noguchi Naohiko, the craftsman revered as the "God of Sake."
For those who know HEAVENSAKE, this recognition is no accident. It is the culmination of a decade-long journey to bring premium sake into the cultural spaces where it has always belonged, alongside the world's most celebrated music, art, and craftsmanship.
Born in Sound: Heavensake's Musical DNA
Since its very first evening in 2016, sound has been integral to the brand's identity. That inaugural event, a launch party during Paris Fashion Week at the legendary Hôtel de Crillon, was not a press conference. It was an experience. And the artist behind the decks was none other than Virgil Abloh.
His DJ set at that first HEAVENSAKE soirée was not accompaniment. It was a declaration: this brand speaks the language of creation.
Virgil's early embrace of HEAVENSAKE was prophetic. He saw in our philosophy the same spirit he embodied, the refusal to be defined by a single discipline, the belief that the highest form of craft emerges where traditions collide.
The Pioneers: Where Hip-Hop Meets the Kura
If Virgil Abloh set the tone, it was RZA who turned up the volume.
The mastermind behind Wu-Tang Clan, one of the most influential collectives in the history of hip-hop, has a relationship with Japanese culture that runs decades deep. From the kung-fu cinema that shaped Wu-Tang's mythology to the Zen philosophy woven into his writing and production, RZA's connection to Japan is not aesthetic. It is philosophical.
RZA has since become a vocal advocate for HEAVENSAKE across major American music podcasts, bringing our story to audiences who might never have considered sake as their drink of choice, and became the first artist to bring a bottle on stage during a live performance. His message is consistent and genuine: true craftsmanship transcends borders.
This is the energy that flows through our creative universe. Electronic music visionaries Anyma and Solomun inhabit this same space, artists whose work dissolves the boundaries between sound, visual art, and atmosphere. They understand that elevation is not a luxury reserved for the few. It is a state of mind, available to anyone willing to savor the moment.
The Art of Assemblage: Why Rolling Stone Listened
What compels a publication built on rock and roll to recognize a centuries-old Japanese tradition?
The answer lies in the understanding that it not as a beverage, but as an artistic statement, the same impulse that drives a musician to layer sounds until something entirely new fills the room.
The Sake Revolution: Breaking Down the Last Wall
Let us be clear about what this moment represents.
For decades, premium sake has occupied an unusual position in Western culture: respected in specialist circles, celebrated in fine dining from Nobu to Zuma, endorsed by Forbes and Vogue, yet somehow excluded from the mainstream conversation about world-class spirits.
The 2025 Rolling Stone Spirit Awards changed the architecture. By placing sake alongside bourbon, Scotch, and tequila on an equal platform, Rolling Stone acknowledged what we have always known: sake is not a niche curiosity. It is a pillar of global drinking culture, crafted with a complexity that rivals any spirit on earth.
And HEAVENSAKE was the catalyst.
Since 2016, we have been systematically dismantling the walls between sake and the wider world of luxury lifestyle. Our expressions are served at Michelin-starred restaurants and Art Basel. Our Cellar Master trained in the same tradition as the greatest Champagne houses. Our collaborators include hip-hop legends, electronic music icons, and the late Virgil Abloh himself.
We did not wait for permission to sit at the table. We composed our own invitation.
