A New Kentucky Bourbon Brand Arrives as Mary Dowling Whiskey Co. Launches 2 Whiskeys to Share the Story of the ‘Mother of Bourbon’

In June, the whiskey world gathered in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, to celebrate the launch of a new brand: Mary Dowling Whiskey Co.

Two months later, the brand officially announced itself to the world on Tuesday.

Named for a fascinating individual and bourbon pioneer, Mary Dowling Whiskey Co. comes to us from Kaveh Zamanian, the founder and CEO of Rabbit Hole Distillery, who said at the event in Lawrenceburg that the Mary Dowling project had been in the works for two years before coming to fruition. Zamanian and spirits giant Pernod Ricard teamed up to launch Mary Dowling.

Zamanian said he discovered the story of Mary Dowling — whom the brand is hailing as “The Mother of Bourbon” — about 11 years ago, during his nascent days in the bourbon business.

“At first, there wasn’t much that I could find: just a hint of the life of a remarkable person whose story was lost and overlooked in the annals of history,” Zamanian said. “I tell you this because it felt like I’m stumbling upon an archaeological gem. I was really taken by her story, and the more I learned, the more I was baffled on how on God’s earth she remained unknown, unrecognized and not celebrated.”

With a very proven leader on board in Zamanian and the resources of Pernod Ricard, Mary Dowling Whiskey Co. has all of the tools to become a successful player in the Kentucky bourbon category.

Mary Dowling Whiskey Co. launches with two Kentucky straight bourbons, which are available at select retailers in Kentucky, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Texas, Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri and Louisiana.

Details and Tasting Notes for the Debut Mary Dowling Bourbons

Mary Dowling Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Tequila Barrels

This high-rye bourbon is made from a mashbill of 70% corn, 25% rye and 5% malted barley — nearly identical to Mary Dowling’s original recipes, according to Zamanian. Zamanian and company opted to finish the bourbon in Appalachian American Oak tequila casks as an homage to Dowling’s cunning and creative decision to open a distillery in Mexico when Prohibition forced her to stop producing and selling whiskey in the U.S.

Bottled at 93 proof, this whiskey is enjoyable, fun and decently complex, if a touch young-tasting. It retails for $75. Here are our initial tasting notes from the event:

Nose: Graham cracker and tons of citrus and fruit. The agave influence is noticeable and fun. The nose offers notes of lemon, lime, melon, honey, hazelnut, blueberry muffins, soft oak, brown sugar, orange sherbet and sweet cream.

Taste: Thin to medium mouthfeel with notes of fudge, caramel corn, blueberries and a bite of youthful heat.

Finish: Medium in length, the finish leaves notes of rich fudge and vanilla ice cream.

Mary Dowling Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Toasted Double Oak Barrel

Bottled at cask-strength 107 proof, this wheated, double-oaked bourbon is aged in Char #3 and Char #1 new oak barrels after being distilled from a mashbill of 65% corn, 25% wheat and 10% malted barley. This is the superior of the two expressions, although the tequila finish is no slouch. It retails for $130. Here are our initial tasting notes:

Nose: Sweet and dessert-forward. Custard, rich butterscotch, graham cracker, toasted marshmallows, vanilla, salted caramel and peaches and cream. There’s also a nice savory bacon-fat undertone.

Taste: This whiskey presents a lovely viscosity. It’s quite oaky with some heat and a good amount of tannin. The palate delivers an enjoyable balance of fruit and dessert, with notes of blackberries, raspberries, toffee and barrel char.

Finish: A long finish imparts melting butter, marshmallow, lemon curd, orange peel and sweet brown sugar.

The Story of Mary Dowling

Born Mary Murphy in 1858 in Kentucky, Mary married John Dowling, then 34, when she was 17 years old. Together, they had nine children.

John Dowling was established in the Kentucky whiskey business before marrying Mary, as a partner of a distillery in Anderson County that produced the whiskey brand Waterfill And Frazier. John became a partner in the early 1880s, and the firm was named Waterfill, Dowling & Co.

In 1903, John Dowling died, leaving Mary with “quite a bit of business to figure out how to keep going,” Bland Byrne, Mary Dowling’s great-grandson, said at the event in Lawrenceburg. “And she was a woman at a time that that wasn’t easy to do.”

Mary faced many trials while learning the business. They had to get a new contract to sell liquor, struggle monetarily after the bank denied their loan request. In 1904, a fire destroyed the distillery — but they rebuilt it. Mary’s sons joined the business when they grew into adulthood, and business was thriving.

Then came along Prohibition, annihilating countless distilleries. Mary Dowling wasn’t ready to quit, however. Records show that leading up to Prohibition’s enactment, she withdrew large quantities of whiskey from her bonded warehouse. Some of these stocks she is said to have sold to the select distillers who were licensed to remain operational during Prohibition and sell their booze for medicinal purposes.

The rest of that whiskey, though, Dowling is said to have bootlegged until 1924, when she was caught. Revenue agents set Dowling up, flipping customers who had bought from her before. Agents watched as they entered her house, bought two sacks of whiskey each containing 12 bottles and left. The agents then entered the home with search warrants and found 478 similar sacks.

They arrested members of the Dowling family, and even though Mary contended that the whiskey had been there before Prohibition and was intended to “be for the use of family and guests,” the Dowlings were prosecuted for a conspiracy to possess, transport and sell intoxicating liquors in violation of the National Prohibion Act.

After three years of court cases, the Dowlings were convicted. By the time they appealed, however, the stenographer who had recorded the initial trial had died, and nobody was able to read his handwriting. Unable to discern his notes, the circuit court threw out the convictions.

In 1926, Dowling hired Joseph L. Beam to move the Waterfill & Frazier distillery to Juarez, Mexico — beyond the U.S. and its restrictive laws. In Juarez, Dowling resumed legal whiskey production and made its products primarily for Mexico, South America and Central America.

“One hundred years ago, here in Lawrenceburg, the Dowlings and the Beams got together and hatched a plan to move her distillery to Juarez,” Bruce Beam Phillips, great grandson of Joseph L. Beam, said at the launch party. “And this evening, about 100 years later, we have the Dowlings and the Beams, sitting around a table getting ready to release a Mary Dowling whiskey and we’ll add one more name to that, and that’s Zamanian.”

Dowling died in 1930. Four years later, Prohibition was repealed, and her son, John, built a new distillery in Fisherville, Kentucky.

Today, Dowling is remembered for her boldness to find and exploit and continue making whiskey, unlike almost every other producer, who shut down shop during Prohibition. Not enough people know Dowling’s story in the whiskey world, which Zamanian wants to correct with this brand.

“They say history is written by the victors,” Zamanian said. “If that is indeed the case, it should be of no surprise to us that it took until the second half of the 20th century for us to begin to recognize that history indeed contains many people, half of them women.”

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