These Whiskeys Honor Spirited Women's History

Forbes

01-04-2025

The Compass Box Hedonism label with artwork from Sofia Bonati.
I've been writing about whiskey for well over a decade, and every year the field grows more diverse with women owning brands and working throughout distilleries including in leadership positions like master blender and master distiller.
But it surprised me at a Compass Box tasting last month that while women have taken a part in distilling, since, well, distilling existed, the first time a female form was on a Scotch bottle was for Hedonism, the first blended grain Scotch to ever be released on the market in 2000.
It got me thinking — what other whiskeys could I think of that put women front and center on the packaging? Here are a few I thought of that had interesting backstories — and great liquid inside.
Jefferson's Marian McLain Bourbon
Marian McClain from Jefferson's
Jefferson's, known for its bourbon aged at sea, put out this limited release in 2023, and it's one of founder Trey Zoeller's favorites. It honors Zoeller's eighth generation grandmother, one of the earliest documented female bootleggers and whiskey runners in history, Marian McClain.
Whiskey expert Fred Minnick gives her a shoutout in his 2013 book 'Whiskey Women: The Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey.' Minnick wrote she was arrested in 1799 in Georgia for illicit distillation. Zoeller said making whiskey — and not paying taxes — was a necessity born out of needing to support her five children after her husband Angus died during the Revolutionary War.
The bourbon is a blend of five different components, each honoring one of McClain's children. The brand is set to release the second edition in June of this year, with five different component whiskeys.
Zoeller told me it was important for him to honor the 'badass women' in his life and his lineage. One of those women was his grandmother.
'When you went to her house, she didn't ask you what you wanted to drink, she asked you how you take your bourbon,' Zoeller said, adding that his grandfather died when he was two months old, and his grandmother took over running the bowling alleys they owned, becoming the first female president of the Kentucky Bowling Association.
And while brands can sometimes target lighter blends for women, Zoeller said once women enter the category, they gravitate towards the stronger stuff.
'Women typically prefer higher proof bourbon and more flavorful bourbon,' he said. 'They've got a better palate. They are able to taste more flavors and articulate it.
Mary Dowling Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey finished in Tequila Barrels
Mary Dowling
Kaveh Zamanian, started deep diving into Kentucky bourbon history when he founded Rabbit Hole in Louisville in 2012. He came across a brief mention of Mary Dowling and a distillery in Juarez in an article and found her really intriguing. Mary and her husband John Dowling owned three distilleries, including Waterfill & Frazier. After her husband died in 1903, she took over running the distillery, and when she was deemed a credit risk she helped recharter a bank. Things get even more complicated during prohibition — dramatic enough that Zamaian patterned to write a book about her life with historian Eric Goodman, coming out in April. Eventually Dowling and her sons relocated the Waterfill & Frazier distillery to Mexico.
After Zamanian launched Rabbit Hole, a relative of Dowling purchased the Waterfill & Frazer mark, and reached out to Zamanain to find out what he knew about the brand. Zamanian doubled down on his research, hitting libraries and talking to local Kentucky families, and ended up purchasing the marks for Waterfill & Frazier and Dowling Brothers himself.
'When I started thinking about recreating or resurrecting the brands, I ultimately decided that it probably would be more appropriate to put her name on the bottle,' Zamanian said. 'The brand came to be as a way of trying to celebrate the person behind the brands that was never on the bottle as the marquee name because of the times.'
Zamanian said it took him a while to figure out what sort of whiskey they were producing at Waterfill & Frazier, but eventually learned that Robert Gould owned the distillery a bit, and that the recipe there eventually became Wild Turkey. He had already started planning the whiskeys for the Dowling brand, and the high rye bourbon that he ended up finishing in tequila casks as a nod to Dowling's ties to Juarez is only very similar to the mash bill at Wild Turkey. Two other expressions are wheated bourbons, one finished in toasted barrels and the other finished in two different oak barrels at cask strength. While Zamanian doesn't have evidence she produced wheated expressions, he thinks they are fitting.
'I felt she was not only such a strong and formidable person, but had such grace and character, and II wanted to bring a whiskey to the fold that was a little bit more sweet and softer in some ways to represent a feminine presence.'
Maker's Mark Spirited Women Initiative
Maker's Mark, Spirited Women's Initiative
When Maker's Mark was founded in 1953, 'Bill Samuels Sr. focused on crafting his premium bourbon, our co-founder Margie Samuels did just about everything else,' said Valerie Netherton, the Director of Higher Purpose at Maker's Mark.
'She wasn't just a visionary, she had the credentials to back it up, graduating top of her class from the University of Louisville with a degree in chemistry. But beyond science, she had an incredible eye for design and a deep appreciation for the arts,' Netherton said.
Margie is the one that came up with a lot of what Maker's Mark, well, Maker's Mark. She came up with the name, inspired by English pewter where artisans would stamp their 'mark' as an indicator of quality. She came up with the font, the hand torn label, and rather than a rectangular shaped bottle, she liked one that had a rounded shoulders and long neck to make the 'glug glug glug' sound when poured, Netherton said. To top it off, it was her idea to hand dip every bottle in red wax.
While Margie's face has appeared on some editions sold exclusively at the distillery, the largest large scale release the brand has done with a female form is a collaboration with Gayle Kabaker which buyers can personalize with the names of women in their lives who have inspired them. It debuted last year during Women's History Month and was popular enough to bring back for a second time.
'For every personalized label ordered through makersmark.com, we're donating $1 to Vital Voices, something we know Margie would have been incredibly proud of,' said Netherton. Vital Voices is a nonprofit that helps foster women in leadership positions.
Hedonism from Compass Box
In 2023, Compass Box, an independent bottler that blends existing whisky rather than distilling any of its own single malts, discontinued the ongoing release of Hedonism and now releases it once a year as a limited edition, along with a new twist on the blend and a new label from female artists.
For the 2025 edition, the bottle features artwork from Argentina Sofia Bonati, who drew inspiration from the magnetic fields that are integral to how a compass works. She layered pencils, watercolor and acrylic gouache to create a woman that's boldly staring out from the bottle.
The blend features single grain from Cameronbridge distillery that was aged an additional two years in a first-fill Marsala barrique and blended with two single grain whiskies from Girvan Distillery, that were from past vatted iterations of Hedonism (a 16 year old and 19 year old).
The result is a caramel whisky with notes of peach and pear, with more cocoa and vanilla on the nose.
"The way that Sofia has captured the essence of the original Hedonism woman in her own style is incredible,' said Assistant Whiskymaker, Michael Stephenson. 'She represented the unique elements of this edition's recipe and taste profile through color that really draws the eye.'
This is not an exhaustive list — and hopefully more will be added to it. It's also worth checking out Milam & Greene, named for it's female founders and Grace O'Malley, named for an Irish pirate queen.