Meghan Ireland always loved chemistry, but as a college freshman studying chemical engineering, she didn't know she could channel her passion for science into the art of making whiskey. It took stumbling across an article about a female chemical engineer who became a master whiskey distiller for something to click: Ireland's fellow students could go into plastics and pharmaceuticals, but she was going into whiskey. Ireland, now the chief blender behind Vermont-based whiskey brand WhistlePig, is among a growing number of women who've become leaders inside a traditionally male-dominated industry that hasn't always welcomed outsiders. Increasingly, women are launching their own brands and finding new ways to innovate in distilling and blending at a time when more women are drinking whiskey, per the AP. More:
- 'Do you even like whiskey?': There's a common, lingering doubt among some male colleagues and consumers that the women gaining expertise in the industry even like the stuff. Becky Paskin, a UK journalist and founder of OurWhisky Foundation, a group that promotes and supports women in the whiskey business, said she was asked that question while serving as a judge at a whiskey tasting event. "It is a drink that comes with certain expectations around which gender drinks it and which gender makes it," Paskin said, adding: "Barely any other drink or food falls under such scrutiny."
- A little history: Whiskey-making has long been considered a masculine profession in America, a drink exclusively enjoyed by men swirling golden liquid in dark, smoky rooms. But industry experts and historians are quick to point out that women have always been involved in the process and were likely key to its survival in the US. The first distilling instrument was created by a woman, Maria Hebraea, an alchemist from around the second century, according to Susan Reigler, a bourbon expert. From there, distilling was largely seen as women's work as they were in charge of home brewing, making medicine, and taking care of the home.
- Innovation and creativity, with a woman's touch: In Vermont, Ireland has been in charge of keeping WhistlePig's whiskey consistent since 2018, but she also oversees experimental batches. Her first whiskey innovation was the Boss Hog VII, which quickly attracted praise and awards for her decision to finish it in Spanish oak and Brazilian teakwood barrels. Judy Hollis Jones spent years as a senior exec in the food industry before launching a whiskey company in Kentucky in 2019. The transition to the whiskey world mimicked the boardrooms she'd been in for decades, where she was often the only woman present. "I've had people say to me, 'Oh, well, you don't wear jeans, boots, and a cowboy hat,'" she said. "And I said, 'No, I don't. And every bourbon drinker female does not. We are [a] very wide range of people [who] love bourbon.'" More here.
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