whiskey women This page intentionally left blank Whiskey Women The Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey fred minnick Potomac Books An imprint of the University of Nebraska Press © 2013 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska. All rights reserved. Potomac Books is an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press. Manufactured in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Minnick, Fred, 1978– Whiskey women: the untold story of how women saved bourbon, Scotch, and Irish whiskey / Fred Minnick. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61234-564-2 (cloth: alk. paper); 978-0-61234-565-9 (pdf). 1. Whiskey industry— History. 2. Whiskey—History. 3. Distillers—History. 4. Businesswomen—History. 5. Women—History. I. Title. HD9395.A2M56 2013 338.4'766352082—dc23 2013024346 Set in Lyon Text by Laura Wellington. Designed by A. Shahan. To Jaclyn, my favorite whiskey woman This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS List of Illustrations viii A Note to Readers ix Introduction xi 1 Before Whiskey 1 2 The First Distillations 10 3 Tough Irish Women 16 4 Early Scotch Whisky Women 31 5 Early American Women 41 6 The Targeted and Early Marketers 56 7 Temperance Women 63 8 Women Moonshiners and Bootleggers in Prohibition 72 9 Repeal Women Saving Whiskey 88 10 The Post-Prohibition Legal Battles 93 11 Post-Prohibition Women Bootleggers 104 12 Whiskey’s Progressive Side 110 13 The Lady of Laphroaig 120 14 Modern Women 129 15 Organizing the Whiskey Effort 144 16 For Women, by Women 153 Acknowledgments 163 Notes 165 Bibliography 179 Index 185 ILLUSTRATIONS Following page 74 1 Eric Gregory and Peggy Noe Stevens 2 Jane Beshear 3 Labrot & Graham Distillery, late 1800s and early 1900s 4 Distillery, late 1800s 5 Old Crow Distillery, early 1900s 6 Civil War soldiers with whiskey 7 Elizabeth Cumming 8 Ohio whiskey war 9 Carrie Nation 10 Women’s work, early 1900s 11 Prohibition 12 Waterfill & Frazier Distillery advertisement 13 Gertrude “Cleo” Lythgoe, Queen of the Bootleggers 14 Pauline Sabin 15 Early Times Distillery, Louisville, early to mid-1900s 16 Bessie Williamson, Laphroaig Distillery 17 Stitzel-Weller Distillery, 1930s 18 Locke’s Irish Whiskey Distillery advertisement 19 Marge and Bill Samuels Sr., Maker’s Mark Distillery, 1950s 20 Victoria MacRae-Samuels, Maker’s Mark Distillery 21 Lynne Tolley, Jack Daniel Distillery 22 Heather Greene, Flatiron Room, New York 23 Kate Shapira Latts, Heaven Hill 24 Helen Mulholland, Bushmills Irish Whiskey 25 Joy Perrine 26 Allison Patel, Local Infusions LLC 27 Ouita Michel, Woodford Reserve 28 Susie Hoyt, Silver Dollar Whiskey Bar 29 Rachel Barrie, Morrison Bowmore Distillers 30 MaryKay Skrypec Bolles, Jim Beam A NOTE TO READERS As you flip through these pages, you will see that I speak of both whiskey and whisky. Allow me to ex- plain: whisky is the Scotch and Canadian spelling, while whiskey is the American and Irish spelling. I tried to respect these geographical indicators, because the proper spelling is important to whiskey drinkers. When generally referencing the spirits category, I used whiskey. Cheers! This page intentionally left blank INTRODUCTION Although the evening was slightly cold, the sunset glowed over the blooming tulips and lush bluegrass on the grounds of the Kentucky Governor’s Mansion. April showers had been kind, giving every plant vibrant life. Women dressed in their finest Derby attire strolled through the ornate grounds to the mansion’s steps, under thick Southern col- umns. Two women stood at the doorway, looking out at Kentucky’s First Garden, taking in the moment, knowing the significance of this day, April 14, 2011. The women were the founding members of the first American female drinking club to publicly kick off in a state’s gover- nor’s mansion. The new organization, Bourbon Women, sought to take back something they had lost—a lady’s rightful place in whiskey his- tory. And of course, they did this while sipping Manhattans and whis- key on the rocks with the First Lady of Kentucky, Jane Beshear. “We, ladies, love our bourbon, and we’re here to show the world it’s not just a man’s drink,” said the founder, Peggy Noe Stevens, who was a master taster for the spirits company Brown-Forman. Informal fe- male whiskey clubs exist all over the world, but this was the first orga- nization with national intentions to be created. Politicians, spirit brand executives, authors, and James Beard–nominated chefs joined the soi- ree to rub elbows with Mrs. Beshear, leaving one to ask an obvious question: What kind of drinking club launches in its state’s governor’s mansion with the First Lady as a founding member? “Women have always been a part of the bourbon business, and it’s a big part of our state’s economy,” Beshear said. Since 95 percent of bourbon, a form of American whiskey made mostly from corn, is made in Kentucky, there’s strong state political capital behind this female club. Yet the notion of women and whiskey goes beyond the happen- ings of this small state. In boardrooms from France to New York, brand managers are discussing how to make a predominantly male-centric product more appealing to women. Whiskey, the Irish and American spelling, and whisky, the Scotch and Canadian spelling, have never taken such a strong stance toward women. According to a 2012 Simons xi Market Research report, women represent 30 percent of the total whis- key-drinking population. Large publicly traded companies hope to in- crease this female demand. Bottles and labels are becoming more feminine and elegant, while flavored whiskey targets femaleconsumers in much the same way as flavored vodkas. Perhaps the greatest tribute to the growth of women and distilled malts is the fact the Glenfiddich’s Janet Sheed Roberts Reserve, a fifty-five-year-oldingle s malt Scotch named after the found- er’s granddaughter, sold for $94,000 at auction in 2012. Although oth- er whiskies have sold for more, Glenfiddich’s extremely limited edition (only eleven bottles were made) is one of the highest-selling all-time whiskies. The Reserve sold just two weeks before Sheed Roberts passed away at age 110. Whiskey was once the lady’s staple beverage for guests. In the 1700s and 1800s, Scottish and American women mixed whiskey with tea and sugar in punch bowls, while Irish women used poitín, Irish moonshine, to keep their families healthy. They continued enjoying whiskey dur- ing Prohibition and up until the late 1950s. But a woman’s whiskey- drinking habits of yesterday are not why I pursued this book. Something Stevens said at the Bourbon Women founding meeting stuck with me: “Women were the first distillers.” First Lady Beshear explained the contributions of women: “Women have been involved with bourbon for many, many years. If you look back, you would see so many women in all parts of the business, from the actual preparation to the bottling to working on the Board of Direc- tors.” If women have been so important to whiskey, why are we just now talking about them? Flip through any magazine covering whiskey over the past fifty years, and you’ll see drastically more coverage of men than women. When women are used in whiskey brand promo- tions, they are sexually objectified to allure potential male drinkers with their short skirts, long legs, and busts. In addition, whiskey is al- most exclusively named after men. For a business steeped in tradition and history, whiskey has forgot- ten its better half. Women have always been a part of whiskey history; they’ve just never received credit. As I pursued the story of women’s role in the whiskey industry, I discovered that women contributed greatly to the evolution of alcohol. xii | Introduction Nearly four thousand years before whiskey was first distilled, Su- merian women invented beer. An Egyptian woman created the alem- bic still around 3 AD, giving moonshiners an early prototype for the stills they use today. Medieval European women worked in apothecar- ies, distilling everything from rosewater to potatoes. They called these early distillations aqua vitae (Latin) and Usque-, Uisce-, or Uisge-Beatha (Gaelic), both meaning “water of life.” Although the word whiskey had been used in the 1500s, it did not become a common term until the 1800s. Even some mid-nineteenth-century American accounts show that rum, tequila, and brandy were frequently mistaken for whiskey. This categorical confusion may explain why early female distillers are often left out of whiskey history; they were distilling anything and ev- erything before whiskey became a popular term. But their contributions should not be overlooked. This book explains how 1600s Scottish aqua vitae makers were accused of witchcraft and why 1800s Irish tax col- lectors targeted female whiskey makers. Whether they were beaten down by their respective governments or they simply chose to conform to their expected societal roles, wom- en liquor makers became fewer as distilling became big business. They typically only owned distilleries after their husbands died. In Ireland and Scotland, more than thirty women owned legitimate tax-paying distilleries. Some women drove their companies into the ground; oth- ers planted the seeds for future whiskey empires. From the 1700s to the 1950s, these women distillery owners were among the most influ- ential people in the entire spirits industry. Laphroaig, Dalmore, Bush- mills, and Johnnie Walker might not be here today without a woman owner in the brands’ history. Today women are CEOs of liquor companies with large whiskey port- folios, and they compete with men for management positions. Despite the often sexist usage of women in advertising, the whiskey business has mostly embraced the growth of women in the working ranks.