Toast to International Women’s Day With These 5 Whiskeys That Champion Women
March 8 is International Women’s Day, and what better way to celebrate it than with a glass of whiskey?
Though whiskey still has a reputation of being considered “a man’s drink,” that perception is changing as brands continue pushing for more diversity and inclusion. In August, SevenFifty Daily reported that 36% of women drink whiskey in North America. NPR reports that in 1990, just 15% of women drank whiskey.
Despite its reputation, whiskey has somewhat of a “feminine” past. From bootleggers to distillers and beyond, women have unquestionably made a huge impact on the whiskey world.
According to Vinepair, a woman is credited with inventing the still, which is used to distill whiskey, and her efforts were documented by a Gnostic Christian writer, Zosimos of Panopolis.
During promotion of Fred Minnick’s book, “Whiskey Women: The Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch and Irish Whiskey,” NPR shared that “sex-selling saloon women created the greatest demand for American whiskey, peddling more than $2 million in booze in New York in 1857.”
Yet, despite women’s contributions to the whiskey world, the majority of their efforts and stories are lost to history. These five brands either shed a light on historic “whiskey women,” contribute to organizations supporting women within the whiskey industry or simply celebrate the “spirited women” of today. We’ll drink to that.
Five Whiskeys to Drink for International Women’s Day 2024
Wilderness Trail Bourbon Women Peacock Barrel
Purchases of this 103-proof bourbon from the Campari-owned Wilderness Trail brand go to a good cause. For every bottle of Wilderness Trail Bourbon Women Peacock Barrel purchased, the brand donates $25 to the Bourbon Women Society.
This bourbon hosts a mashbill of 64% corn, 24% wheat and 12% malted barley. The brand uses a sweet mashing process, and as a result, Wilderness Trail claims its Peacock Barrel bourbon has toasted marshmallow and vanilla cream aromas. The dessert-driven palate hosts chocolate cake batter and baking spice aromas aplenty, which segue into a glorious finish of dried strawberries and sandalwood, according to the brand.
Wilderness Trail’s previous whiskeys have been reviewed favorably at Whiskey Raiders. In fact, we enjoyed this barrel pick of Wilderness Trail bourbon so much that we selected it for our Bottle of The Month Club. Wilderness Trail’s Bourbon Women Peacock Barrel whiskey can be purchased from Seelbachs for $79.99.
Mary Dowling Tequila Barrel High Rye Bourbon
Mary Dowling was a brilliant businesswoman. After her husband’s death, Dowling was left in control of the popular Waterfill & Frazier distillery. During Prohibition, Dowling became a bootlegger, illegally selling whiskey. She was eventually caught but escaped prison time thanks to an unlikely miracle. Afterward, she was savvy enough to take her whiskey operation down to Juarez, Mexico, where Joseph L. Beam moved the distillery under Dowling’s command.
Kaveh Zamanian of Rabbit Hole Distillery started the Mary Dowling bourbon brand in August as a tribute to the “Mother of Bourbon.”
This whiskey is an homage to Dowling. It is a high-rye bourbon finished in tequila barrels, celebrating the Waterfill & Frazier distillery’s time in Mexico. The whiskey has a mashbill of 70% corn, 25% malted rye and 5% malted barley. After it was distilled, it rested for a minimum of four years in new charred American oak casks before being transferred to Appalachian American Oak tequila barrels.
According to the brand, these tequila barrels held “sacrificial sherry” for a year, then Oloroso sherry followed by two years holding Vin Doux Naturel. They housed reposado tequila in Mexico before being used to finish this expression of Mary Dowling Bourbon. The bourbon hosts a suggested retail price of $75.
Click here to read our review of this bourbon.
Jefferson’s Marian McLain Bourbon
Jefferson’s Bourbon released Marian McLain in April 2023. The whiskey honors an ancestor of Jefferson’s founder, Trey Zoeller. Marian McLain is Zoeller’s eighth-generation grandmother. She was a moonshiner in the 1700s and became one of the first women to be convicted of bootlegging in 1799.
The limited-edition bourbon is a blend of 14-year-old Tennessee straight bourbon (21%), 11-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon (40%) a wheated double barrel whiskey (14%), a rum cask finish whiskey (17%) and an 8-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon (8%).
The whiskey clocks in at 102 proof. Click here to read our review. With a suggested retail price of $299.99, Marian McLain Bourbon is definitely a splurge.
Maker’s Mark “Spirited Women” Bourbon
(Photo: Maker’s Mark)
If you want to gift an important, whiskey-loving woman in your life something special this Women’s History Month, the Maker’s Mark “Spirited Women” bourbon might just be the perfect fit.
For Maker’s Mark’s Spirited Women program, this bottle features a complimentary, customizable, limited-edition label designed by the artist Gayle Kabaker. Maker’s Mark is additionally inviting those supporting women everywhere to support its partnership with Vital Voices, an organization supporting women leaders. The whiskey brand made a one-time donation to support the institution, and fans of the brand will be invited to chip in as well once they customize their label.
The Maker’s Mark brand has a long history of supporting female leadership, and as a matter of fact, Maker’s Mark was co-founded by Margie Samuels. Though Samuels made many contributions to Maker’s Mark, the most notable ones involved the brand’s bottle shape, labeling and red wax topper.
The brand announced the latest limited-edition bottle release in February. Those interested in creating a personalized label for the “spirited women” in their life can click here.
Saint Liberty Josephine’s Flathead River Rye
The previous four bottles were all bourbon, so we wanted to include something for all of the rye drinkers out there. Saint Liberty Whiskey sells bottles that are a liquid nod to the women of Prohibition. This rye whiskey is an homage to Josephine Doody, a woman who was known as “The Bootleg Lady of Glacier Park.” Get ready for her story — it’s a wild one:
According to the Roundup Record-Tribune & Winnett Times, Josephine had a history of running from the law — and apparently quite the opium habit. She worked as a dance-hall girl before being abducted by her husband, Dan Doody, who “helped” her kick her opium habit by locking her in a cabin.
Eventually, Josephine discovered moonshining. She built a successful bootleg business while her husband worked as a ranger and poacher near Flathead River, or what is now Glacier National Park.
This rye whiskey shares Josephine’s story and is composed of a mashbill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley. It was aged for five years in a 53-gallon new white oak barrel with a #3 char after being triple pot distilled.
The brand claims it uses the same Montana water Josephine would have used a century ago. The brand describes it as possessing a nose of vanilla and grilled peaches coupled with a creamy, oaky palate and a finish of vanilla and roasted marshmallows. The whiskey hosts a suggested retail price of $54.99 and can be purchased from Saint Liberty Whiskey.
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