Six Female Distillers to Watch
The ancient art of distilling used to be a boy's club, but not any longer.
Women are at the forefront of many of the changes in distilling in the U.S. Here are six women who are changing modern spirit distilling. They are not just looking toward the future but also mining the past.
Becky Harris ~ Catoctin Creek, VA
Pronounced Ka-TOK-tin, this distillery was founded in 2009 by Becky and her husband Scott. It has the honor of being the first legal distillery in Loudoun County since Prohibition.
The Catoctin Creek Distilling Company is producing some fantastic rye thanks to Becky Harris. Becky graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and worked as a chemical engineer. To quote her bio, "If there is a fruit, vegetable, tuber with starch or sugar in it, you can bet that Becky will try to distill it." As Catoctin's chief distiller, she is producing some of the best rye in the country.
Roundstone Rye is a 100% pre-Prohibition style rye with notes of caramel, butter toffee, and a
hint of lemon. It is recommended both for sipping and cocktails. It has won so many awards it is Virginia's most award-winning whiskey, an amazing feat for such a young distillery.
They recommend using their Roundstone Rye in a Canadian Cocktail variation. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well, strain, and pour over ice in a cocktail glass of your choice.
- 2 oz. rye
- ½ oz. orange liqueur - Cointreau or triple sec
- ½ teaspoon superfine sugar
- A dash of bitters – They recommend something fruity like Peychaud’s with its flavors of licorice, saffron, citrus, and caramel.
Chanel Turner ~ FOU-DRÉ, D.C.
In 2009, at the age of 25, Chanel Turner changed the distilling landscape. She is the youngest person to own her own spirit and the first African American woman to operate a Vodka brand.
FOU-DRÉ is a Vodka meant to be, as Chanel says, "consumed naked …over ice." It also works in craft cocktails, and the FOU-DRÉ website has a nice list of signature cocktails. Although not a flavored vodka, FOU-DRÉ is infused with hints of pomegranate, ginger, lychee, kiwi, and lime during distillation. This makes it a great addition to many traditional, fruit-based vodka cocktails.
Try it with ginger beer for a variation of a dark and stormy that Chanel calls “The Quiet Storm.”
- Muddle 2 limes
- Add 2 oz. of FOU-DRÉ Vodka
- Top with your favorite ginger beer
Courtney McKee – Headframe Spirits, MT
Courtney and John McKee opened Headframe Spirits in Butte, Montana in 2012. In addition to
producing micro-distilled spirits, Headframe is also the only place in the world that manufactures state-of-the-art continuous flow distillation equipment for micro-distilleries.
Their offerings range from whiskey to vodka. Each is named after some aspect of Butte's copper mining history – Neversweat Whiskey, High Ore Vodka, Anselmo Gin, and their unique Bourbon Cream Liquor called Orphan Girl after a mine located at Butte's World Museum of Mining. Headframe gives back to its community by donating some of the proceeds from every Orphan Girl sale to the museum, among other things.
Their signature Orphan Girl drink? A Dirty Girl – a combination of Orphan Girl Bourbon Cream Liqueur and root beer.
Elizabeth McCall ~ Woodford Reserve, KY
As Assistant Master Distiller, Elizabeth McCall continues a family tradition of working in the bourbon industry. She is also one of the youngest female distillers in the United States. She received her master's degree from the University of Louisville and has focused on R&D since 2009.
Her nose is considered one of the best in the bourbon business. As of 2020, she is one of the two distillers responsible for Woodford's Master's Collection. The 15th release, a Very Fine Rare Bourbon, has a nose with "layers of rich oak, caramel, brown sugar, chocolate, vanilla," which merges with "cured tobacco" and is brightened by "apple fruit."
Elizabeth likes to make bourbon unintimidating and is quoted as saying, "Oh, if you want to drink it with Coca Cola, do that." She is more likely to have it on the rocks herself when she is home, though, or in a cocktail if she’s out for an evening.
Molly Troupe ~ Freeland Spirits, OR
Freeland Spirits is a woman-owned, woman-run distillery in Portland, Oregon. It’s the brainchild of Jill Kuehler, who came out of the non-profit world. Her vision came together with the help of Molly Troupe.
Molly is a native Oregonian. She earned her master's degree in Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. Then she returned to Oregon to work first with Hood River Distillers and then Oregon Spirit. In 2017, she joined forces with Jill to create Freeland Spirits.
Molly's signature gin – sourced from Pacific Northwest ingredients – combines the essence of rosemary, mint, and cucumber with grapefruit and lemon to brighten the spiciness of pink peppercorn, star anise, and coriander, all mingling with juniper.
Their website recommends Freeland Gin as the base of their Aura Elixir – concocted from:
- 2 oz. Freeland Gin
- 1 oz. grapefruit juice
- ¾ oz. lemon juice
- ¾ oz. simple syrup
Mix all ingredients over ice in a shaker, strain into an ice-filled glass, top with 2 oz. of Fever-Tree Elderflower tonic and a sprig of sage.
Victoria Butler ~ Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, TN
There aren't a lot of people with the whiskey pedigree of Victoria Butler. She’s the great-great-granddaughter of the man who taught Jack Daniels how to distill--Nathan "Nearest" Green. She holds the title of Master Blender of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey in Nashville, Tennessee.
Her commitment is to the family tradition and rekindling her ancestor's memory. For generations, Nathan Green was overlooked by history. But his contribution to whiskey making in America was illuminated in 2016. That was when Jack Daniels acknowledged his "invaluable contributions." In an effort to continue Green's legacy, historian and entrepreneur Fawn Weaver built a new distillery and hired Victoria in 2019. The two of them and "Nearest's" distillery are already winning awards for their batches.
Nearest Single Barrel Edition has a taste of black pepper and maple syrup with hints of anise and spearmint, ending with vanilla and spice.
From the new: Chanel Turner's FOU-DRÉ Vodka and Molly Troupe's Pacific Northwest Gin, and the innovative: Courtney McKee's continuous flow distillation, to the old: Becky Harris' pre-Prohibition Rye, to the historic: Victoria Butler's whiskey legacy – these six women are bringing a diverse contemporary sensibility to spirit distillation.
Looking for more cocktail recipes for Bourbon, Whiskey, Gin or Vodka? Check out our Mixology Blog.
Know a woman distiller we should be watching? Have you tried one of the spirits listed above? Let us know in our comments!
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