Frank Sinatra Loved This Scotch Brand So Much It Sponsored His World Tour

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

From star-studded advertising campaigns to alcohol brands actually owned by celebrities, the beverage industry and famous figures have long intertwined. But while you might think of George Clooney's Casamigos tequila , Ryan Reynolds' late-2010s Aviation Gin ads, or even Kyle Jenner's line of canned vodka sodas, Frank Sinatra beat them all to the punch decades earlier. Ol' Blue Eyes was a well-known whisky lover, so much so that one of his go-to brands, Chivas Regal, sponsored an entire world tour for the world-famous crooner. From 1990 to 1991, the brand was behind Sinatra's famous tour done in honor of his 75th birthday. If you're a fan of either the man or the beverage and have a few hundred bucks on hand, you can still find vintage posters from the event for sale on eBay, with the bold headline: "Chivas Regal Presents Frank Sinatra's Diamond Jubilee World Tour."

Now, Chivas Regal might not be among the super-acclaimed, award-winning Scotch whiskies everyone should try at least once in their lifetime, but the brand has clout beyond just its famous erstwhile fan. Founded in the 1800s in Scotland by the Chivas brothers, the Scotch whisky received its first "regal" order from Queen Victoria in 1843 and was served at Balmoral Castle. According to the brand's website, it was also the world's first Scotch marketed as a luxury alcohol product. Given that Sinatra was well known for his luxurious lifestyle, the Scotch brand seems like it would have fit right in.

There's a photo of a document titled "Frank Sinatra's dressing room contents" that's popped up on various social media sites that lists a bottle of Chivas Regal alongside a whole list of other bottles of alcohol, non-alcoholic beverages, food, and various miscellaneous items as part of Sinatra's required performance rider. It's unknown where this photo originally came from and whether it's genuine, but some observers speculate that it's from the mid-20th Century, a.k.a. the height of Sinatra's fame, given its level of detail. Whatever the case, it seems right in line with other stories of Sinatra's green room riders.

A 2017 Forbes article on the subject mentions a proposed 1991 Sinatra concert in Toledo, Ohio, for which a 20-page rider listed 37 items, including a bottle of Chivas Regal. Some social media users have estimated this is where the circulated photo of Sinatra's dressing room demands actually comes from, but, again, the exact date and origin of that document remains unclear. Either way, it seems Sinatra's love for Chivas Regal didn't conclude with the end of his world tour in 1991. In October 1992, the Washington Post listed the Scotch among the items in a 23-page rider for a Sinatra concert that had taken place the week before publication.

Despite all the publicity with Chivas Regal, it's widely believed that a different whiskey truly captured Frank Sinatra's heart. The singer was often depicted with a drink in his hand, and he was photographed on at least a few occasions preparing his own drinks at home or out at events. But instead of Chivas Regal, the spirit Sinatra was most depicted with was Jack Daniel's. Granted, Jack Daniel's bottles are square and arguably more easily identifiable than Chivas Regal, but Sinatra was a well-known fan. He was even said to be buried with a bottle of Jack after he passed away in 1998. Regardless, Sinatra's preference for brown liquor lived on as part of his memory. In a 1998 letter to Booze Business, actor and Gregory Peck wrote of his late friend, "Contrary to popular belief, our friend Frank Sinatra did not partake exclusively of Jack Daniel's ... he sometimes joined me in a Chivas and Perrier, with perhaps a lemon twist, or a dash of bitters."

So, next time you sip a glass of Chivas Regal, consider mellowing it out with club soda or sparkling water, finished with bitters and a lemon twist. It's a longstanding hack for better-tasting whiskey drinks, but, perhaps more importantly, it seems the Chairman of the Board would have approved.