Willie’s Reserve, Willie Nelson’s Cannabis Line, is Coming to Canada

One of Colorado’s biggest cannabis producers, Livwell Enlightened Health LLC, has announced an official partnership with one of America’s most beloved cannabis activists and country singers, Willie Nelson. The company plans to secure the Canadian distribution rights for his cannabis brand, Willie’s Reserve, as Bloomberg reports.

Livwell currently operates in Denver, Colorado, and generates around $80 million in revenue from cannabis sales each year. Their annual income will prop the company’s estimated value to $300 million, once the corporation goes public.

Nelson currently has his name on two personalized cannabis brands: Willie’s Remedy, a line of CBD-infused coffee, and Willie’s Reserve, a collection of flowers, vapes, and assorted edibles.

Willie’s Remedy and the assorted edibles from the Willie’s Reserve line won’t be available in Canada when the recreational market opens in October as the timeline for the legalization of edibles remains uncertain. Willie’s Reserve plans to make its Canadian debut in Toronto this September.

Nelson announced the release of Willie’s Reserve back in 2015. The singer’s curated brand will now be distributed in Canada through two Alberta-based companies who have partnered with Livwell. They’ll help Willie’s Reserve secure distribution rights in stores across the province.

If Livwell sounds familiar, it’s because this isn’t the first time that the corporation has teamed up with a notable cannabis enthusiast. In 2015, the company partnered with Snoop Dogg to create his cannabis brands, Leafs By Snoop, a venture quite similar to Willie’s Reserve.

Canada’s strict cannabis marketing rules, which include a ban on celebrity endorsements, raise questions about how these sorts of partnerships will play out. They require that the packaging of all cannabis products remains relatively plain so as to not attract minors. The cannabis industry has expressed concern that this will damper healthy competition.