Women Don't Drink Whiskey
By Hailey Osborne
Published in 406 Woman
I will admit, the start of my whiskey journey was sneaking Jack Daniel’s Honey into the local livestock fair in a Sonic Dr. Pepper slushy when I was 16 because they didn’t check the FFA kids (sorry Mr. Johnson). I ended up sharing it with my closest friends on a rickety Ferris wheel as we talked about our livestock and what little life we had experienced at that age. I didn’t know anything about whiskey, other than it was what ag and rodeo kids drank because it’s what their dads had at home. But I liked it, so I continued drinking Jack Daniel's on a regular basis. I branched out to Pendleton when my mom grabbed a bottle of Pendleton 1910 for me one day, because she couldn’t find the Jack. I was scared to explore any further than the two, mostly because whiskey was (and is) seen as a man’s drink. Walking into a liquor store and asking for help seemed daunting for a freshly 21-year-old. It was not until I started working in the industry that I would really dive into growing my appreciation for the spirit.
Present day, I still struggle with being a woman who enjoys whiskey. Clients are more likely to follow the advice of my male counterparts when choosing a bourbon or a scotch. So, I work hard to build up my knowledge and try new whiskies as often as my wallet will allow it. I have a dedicated Instagram account to stay up to date on new products and what has caught the attention of bourbon hounds around the country. I lean on my agricultural interest to learn about how different grains change the flavor profile of a whiskey. It pays off in the form of watching a new client’s face light up when she can discuss bourbons with me without fear of being looked down on. It pays off in the form of one of our regulars embracing bold flavors and tasting her way through Scotland. It pays off in the form of clients returning for more recommendations because my last suggestion was a homerun.
This satisfaction within the world of whiskey is something I want to share with all women who are interested in a darker spirit. So, I am tearing down the classification of whiskey being a man’s drink. To do that, I will need some help from the women who helped build the industry. Let’s start with some near and dear women from our great state.
Josephine Doody fled to McCarthyville, Montana in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s to hide from a pending trial after being accused of murdering a man. While she claimed it was self-defense, she did not hold much faith in the law and found it better to flee. She worked as a dance-hall girl to provide for herself but developed a severe opioid addiction. A soon-to-be Glacier National Park ranger by the name of Dan Doody took a liking to Josephine. He quickly became worried that her addiction would claim her life sooner rather than later. So, in a declaration of love, he kidnapped Josephine by literally strapping her to a mule and taking her to his homestead cabin. This homestead turned hideout and detox facility was accessed by crossing the Middle Fork of the Flathead, and there is only a small window of time in which the water is not frozen or too high to pass, proving it to be an excellent location for Josephine to kick her habit and hide from the Colorado lawmen.
Once clean, Josephine took up moonshining as a means of income. The trainmen of the Great Northern Railway would blow the train whistle once for every jar of moonshine they wanted to purchase as they arrived at Doody siding (unmanned railway stop). Josephine would deliver the moonshine using a small boat to cross the raging waters. Glacier National Park was opened in 1910 with Dan Doody as one of its first rangers, but he was fired in 1916 due to ‘excessive poaching’ and passed away a few years later. The firing and death of her husband did not slow Josephine down, however, as she always made sure the park rangers had pie and coffee every time they passed her cabin on the intersection of the Boundary Trail and the Harrison Lake Trail during their patrols. The rangers took a liking to her and would often look the other way when it came to her moonshine operation. This served her well until she moved from the homestead in the early 1930’s when her health began to deteriorate.
Bertie “Birdie” Brown filed her homestead claim along Brickyard Creek in Fergus County, Montana in 1907. Like most homesteaders, she supplemented her income in a multitude of ways like gardens, crops and livestock. Moonshine, however, became Bertie’s claim to fame. During prohibition, bad moonshine was known to cause blindness and death. According to locals, Bertie’s moonshine was some of the best (and safest) in the country. Bertie was always welcoming her community into her parlor with warm hospitality and good hooch.
Bertie did not outlast the prohibition. In May 1933, a revenue officer made a visit to Bertie to warn her to stop making moonshine. She multitasked brewing her latest batch of moonshine with dry-cleaning garments, using gasoline as a cleaning agent. The fumes from the gasoline were ignited by the flames from her still, causing an explosion in her kitchen. Bertie suffered severe burns during the incident and succumbed to her injuries a few hours later.
Female bootleggers like Josephine and Bertie paved the way for modern-day women to make their mark in whiskey history.
You cannot appreciate scotch without also paying tribute to the legendary Dr. Rachel Barrie. She has had a hand as the master blender and/or whiskey creator for Ardbeg, Ardmore, Auchentoshan, BenRiach, Bowmore, GlenDronach, Glen Garioch, Glenglassaugh, Glenmorangie, and Laphroaig. She may be one of the most widely known distillers in the Scotch industry to date. One of her newest releases, Benriach The Smoky Twelve, landed itself in the number 3 spot in Whisky Advocate’s 2020 Top 20.
At a mere 27 years old, Nicole Austin hit the ground running as the master blender at Kings County Distillery. She did not know it at the time, but a rye whiskey she distilled in 2011 would go on to win double gold at the 2015 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. After working as a consultant with Dave Pickerell in America and then as the commissioning engineer at Tullamore D.E.W. in Ireland, Nicole settled in at Cascade Hollow. Her first whiskey at Cascade Hollow, the George Dickel Bottled in Bond, won ‘Whiskey of the Year’ from Whiskey Advocate as well as ‘Best Buy’ in Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 Spirits of 2019. Nicole also has loose ties to Butte, Montana, as she is in a group co-founded by John McKee of Headframe Spirits called ‘The Good Guys’.
Marianne Eaves (formerly Barnes) set herself on a fast-track to her claim as the first female master distiller of bourbon since prohibition by never saying ‘no’. She chose Brown-Forman as a college internship with zero taste or knowledge of whiskey. She discovered her passion for whiskey during tasting panels and Brown-Forman took notice of her quick-developing palate. Marianne became Woodford Reserve’s first Master Taster and Master Distiller heir-apparent. At 28 years old, she was asked to join the team at the historic Old Taylor Distillery. This offer was the start of the Castle & Key Distillery.
If the increasing number of women stepping into master roles in the whiskey industry is not enough (and this is nowhere near an exhaustive list), some studies support women being excellent at whiskey tasting as well.
According to a study from the Federal University of Rio de Janerio, the olfactory bulb in women has 43% more cells and 50% more neurons than men. A study by Yale University identified that women have more taste buds on their tongues than men. Furthermore, 35% of women are “supertasters”, perceiving tastes (and especially bitter tastes) more intensely, compared to 15% of men. These studies suggests that the increased sense of smell in women is cognitive, rather than perceptive.
A study conducted by Monell Chemical Sciences Center in Philadelphia found that women tend to taste, smell, hear, see colors, and feel textures more accurately in men. Their partnering research center in Stockholm suggests that this may be due to women allocating more attention to potentially noxious nasal stimuli than men do, and that causes them to assess nasal irritants differently than men. The research also noted than women exhibit higher trigeminal nerve sensitivity (sensations such as burning, cooling, and tingling). Further, women are more reactive to nasal stimuli that are perceived as emotional, unpleasant, or threatening.
In a matter of perceptive increase, women are traditionally introduced to more aromas throughout life. This is largely in part to the fact that in traditional gender roles women were tasked with cooking, cleaning, and childrearing. In this sense, women are more likely to be concerned and seek out smells for the purpose of identification (i.e.: smelling if food has gone bad). The quickest way to increase your sensitivity and ability to process aromas is by having more experience with identifying them, and to seek out exposure to new aromas. Women are also more likely to thoroughly describe an aroma (i.e.: describing an aroma as “freshly baked apple pie at my grandmother’s house” instead of “apples and baking spice”). As we primarily decide to like an aroma or not based on the memories it evokes, women are better able to draw on memories by the ways in which they describe what they are smelling or tasting.
So, if you are whiskey-curious, do not be afraid to jump in headfirst. Be adventurous and develop your palate. Talk with your local liquor store and distillery employees (seriously, it is the highlight of our day). Buy the whiskies that are most pleasing to you (this is different for everyone). Do not feel pressured to sit on the sidelines and watch the men play with bourbon. If anyone tells you women don’t drink whiskey, tell them not only do women drink it, but we also create it.
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