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THE EPILOGUE: WOMEN IN THE BOOZE WORLD
If you have been reading The Boozeletter for a while, then you might have noticed that I like to highlight Women in my industry. It is pretty easy to do because I get to interact and work with a lot of women in my work. I don't know Jackie Zykan or Marianne Eaves so I don't write about them. I would be thrilled to meet them and once picked a wonderful Old Forester Barrel in Jackie's office, but she was not present. Many years ago when I started and was getting my Sommelier training the Master Sommelier said that Women were better tasters than Men but were less likely to share their findings. I thought to myself if a Woman was at the front of the class teaching it that might be different. There are 25 Women master sommeliers vs 145 Men. I'm certain you could find a long list of reasons why but that's not what I'm talking about today. Today I'm just talking about the reality that I live in. When I started my career, I did meet Women wine makers occasionally, like the brilliant Cathy Corison but never any Women distillers. The first one I met was Nicole Austin who had taken over George Dickel, a distillery that made good whiskey that was collecting dust on shelves all over the United States when she took it over. They were selling their juice all over the market they had so much of it.
She super charged the place and put it on the map with the Bottled in Bond, the single barrel program, the fifteen-year-old, and the very underrated Barrel Select! She came to pour at Southern Spirits many years ago and I was blown away by her acumen. Bright, funny, passionate and clearly a comet that was gaining momentum before launching into the stratosphere with multiple whiskey of the year wins about to be added to her belt. Meeting her and having her here to pour remains a career highlight, maybe Sarah Poole (a superstar not featured in this weeks The Boozeletter but still a legend) can put it in a good word for me?? It wasn't too much longer after that, I first met Elizabeth McCall who was the number two at Woodford at the time, learning under the wise, talented, and all around awesome human Chris Morris! I had read an interview with her and was excited to meet her, but was not prepared for how excellent her ability to break down a whiskey in such a clear and concise manner was. Our first encounter was her helping me to choose between two barrel choices and she deconstructed both the taste and the appeal of each in a way that I will always remember. We made our choice right then and it turned out to be the winner known as "Fascinating Evening" if you still own one of these drink up! Since that time I've had the occasion to pick many more barrels with her and each time out she always delivers. "McCalls Call" remains our fastest selling Woodford pick, and i have it on very good authority that another one of those will be coming here, maybe as soon as next month!!
Wages and I are were just at Woodford picking with her and Bartender Baker and just listening to those two describe what we were tasting was as much fun as anything else. We learn best when we shut our mouths and open our ears. Baker was so excited about a particular pick, building an entire story and mood around it. Using words that would not come out of my mouth but that were so accurate and alluring. Curling up on a blanket with a bottle and other poetry. My verbal contributions on picks are a lot of aggressive stuttering's "APRICOT...and FLOWERS!" I just sat at my chair smelling and nodding with the occasional "BAKING SPICES FOR SURE!" thrown in for good measure. I was sitting front row watching two of the best in the business have a conversation about whiskey. If it had been a podcast I would have watched and listened, but instead it was a live pick and we all get to enjoy the results!
Earlier that day I had the happy occasion to meet Barbara Parrish, who is now in charge of the Old Forester Single Barrel program. Last time we got to pick with rising superstar Melissa Rift, who I had picked a Bulleit barrel with at her previous stop! Maybe there is something in the water at Brown Foreman that cures misogyny, or they just have an eye for talent. I have never met assistant distiller Lexie Phillips over at Jack Daniels, but every time I go to their distillery, I always purchase her single barrel picks, and they are always amazing! Right, back at Old Forester with Barbara and Baker and Wages, we skipped the tour because it was a time crunch and got straight to the pick. Barbara knew Baker very well so she was relaxed with us and we had a blast. Wages and Baker both drilled open the barrels to get our samples out (that's how they do it at Old Forester) and we pretty much silently worked our way through the samples. After that we started to discuss and break them down. I had a favorite but am always ready to be convinced. Once we added water to each sample the winner was clear because just like our last pick it was the best with and without. The whole affair was lovely as it was absent of ego and nonsense. Just a bunch of whiskey fans finding a winner. Barbara was a fun and enthusiastic guide who clearly loves her job and whiskey. She put us at ease and the whole event was relaxed and fun. Her and Baker were well acquainted already and I'm the sort of person that just gets right down to the business at hand. This is exactly the environment you hope gets created when you do a pick. We only get to do an Old Forester pick every other year and you really want to walk out with something marvelous. This group made sure of that, and I'm truly excited about what we walked out with.
Oh but wait, before that we went to Heaven Hill, and worked with the delightful Sylvia Hans! Just like Barbara this was my first time meeting her and the gentleman I had picked with before was now up at the front desk. She had us thief our whiskey straight from the barrel and we went through them all. She asked if we wanted to try one more and my answer to that question is always YES! She answered all of our questions and we discussed how pretty barrels can give you the best and beat up barrels can give you the best and how there is still magic in the whole process. Our winner came from a beat up barrel, but I have chosen some great picks from pristine looking barrels. Her passion and knowledge was clear and I knew that we were in good hands the whole time. I walked out of their very impressed with our pick "Vanilla Banger" and Sylvia. Sylvia is already clearly a pro and made the pick easy and fun for us. A wealth of information ready and able to answer any questions Wages and I had about all aspects of the pick and the distillery. Sadly, I have been on picks that are kind of chaotic and the focus is not there, and I leave the pick thinking, "great whiskey, but not my favorite experience."
Wages had never been to Bardstown Bourbon Company, and I had planned on taking him there and getting a tour from the incomparable Jaz'mine but she had to go and sell a bunch of bottles in Houston, so we got Elizabeth for our tour guide, and she was excellent. Like me, she had left her first profession to join the wonderful world of booze and was still riding high on that enthusiasm that comes from knowing you now work in the best industry in the world! I met Jaz'mine on my first trip to Bardstown Bourbon Company because my superstar bartender friend Stephanie told me to look out for her as they had met during a cross-training program earlier. I have always had a great fondness for passionate professionals, and it was clear within five minutes that is who she was. Keagan and I got one of the best tours of our lives from her last year, and I have been following her incredible career where she has used her position at the distillery to provide education in cocktails and sensory development both at the distillery and all over the United States. Sky is the limit for that one. I would recommend visiting and eating at Bardstown Bourbon Company if you love great whiskey and great food!
The reason I always ask Bartender Baker to join me on picks is because I know that I'm going to get an extremely detailed breakdown of whatever we are tasting without any ego or nonsense. If you put a sample in front of her she will break it down in such a thorough and unique manner that there will be no doubt about its taste and qualities. For someone like me that is magic and almost like cheating. We are going to play a quick game of pick up basketball, oh look Caitlin Clark is my teammate! I would have to be crazy to not ask someone with her level of skill to not join me. She does this during her free time for free, which is such a gift for all of us! Fred Minnick charges a pretty penny to do a pick and I would rather pick with Baker! I consider myself so fortunate that she takes the time to join us! So I have Wages, I have Baker, and then I get to work with Elizabeth McCall? A pinch is not sufficient to demonstrate that I'm awake and this is actually my life. The only shame is that we don't get to pick ten at a time with this team! You might think it would be very stressful and intimidating to pick with these legends but it is the opposite. The whole thing becomes so easy! All of the flavors are being laid out for you! So all of the sudden there is the Apricot and Black tea barrel just screaming to be picked and that's when my monotone speaks up. "It has to be this because it is Fruit- Tea! Get it? Fruit Tea! Like Fruit and tea together?" Flavor puns are my favorite puns!
Hey that reminds me, my James E Pepper pick finally arrived and that was selected with Lead Distiller Karly Sausen, who it was clear after a few short minutes was another young and talented Woman on her way up to the moon if no one blocks her. We broke down each whiskey together and she talked to me like a peer which I always appreciate. I don't have that level of knowledge, but I am a Pro From Dover! I don't talk about my resume; I just dive in and either it becomes clear I know what I'm doing or I'm a deluded turnip that you smile and nod at. It was a blast, and I hope to get to pick with her again someday. Right now, they had to shut their single barrel program down to catch up on making those wonderful Decanter bottles so make sure you snag one or two of this awesome pick while you can. I hope that what I'm both witnessing and participating in, is a real movement towards growing the tent in the booze world. It is a wonderful world that is full of opportunities and jobs and there's no reason for it to not to include all interested parties. I came from the education world, had no real knowledge, just enthusiasm and interest and someone took a chance on me and now look at me! No one makes it without an opportunity, break, hand up, whatever word you want to use. Chris Fletcher's Grandfather was the Master Distiller at Jack and now he is. Doesn't mean he is one of the best in the business it just means that no one gets plucked off the farm to be put in charge. Whether you believe in the "Butterfly Effect" or not, if Leslie didn't pick me to take the wine training courses I would not be sitting here today. A small choice almost twenty years ago that moved me on to this course. I asked why my boss chose me and she said "because I know you won't embarrass me."
Elizabeth. McCall was just interviewed by her best friend on Substack "Working like a mother" and she was asked about being a Woman distiller, and it is a question that every Woman distiller has to answer all of the time. I asked her myself when I interviewed her. She turned it around and said to me "what is it is like to be a man in the industry?" I said "it is really easy, if the two of us are sitting at a table, I don't have to explain why I'm there, but you do and you work for Woodford Reserve!!!" As a man I get to just show up in my t-shirt and my credentials are not questioned. Nicole Austin had to back off from in store tastings because of obnoxious grilling from Bourbon Bros! She's running an empire dude, she doesn't need to convince you of what is and isn't a bourbon! You should be thankful you get to meet her and taste her wonderful whiskey, not fight with her about your hobby and her JOB! Baker let the new trainee on our pick know that there will be men in Polo Shirts and they will talk over you and ignore you, just keep doing your job. We can argue about why it is like this, but it is like this, and that I will not argue about.
For me, it is has never been about who is better, men or women. I just want to see talented people growing and glowing in my beloved industry. Don't shut anyone out because of their gender or race. (you will NOT find a lot of people of color in this business, maybe we can solve that next week?) Don't assume tastes and skills based on that either. Customers ask me what do women drink? Which women? The ones I know, or the fictional ones on Sex and the City? Piatra loves Rum and Tequila, Shontelle loves Gin, Brandy, and expensive Scotch! My mother loves Brandy, Bourbon, Scotch, and Tequila. Melissa likes Tequila. Sara loves Gin. Sara Jane loves bourbon. Tonight, I will be going back to Supperland where the uber talented Colleen Hughes runs the show with the incredible Rhea Buck by her side! If you can't find examples of brilliant women doing great things in this industry, then you're not paying attention. If you're shocked to find them then you are aware of the problem. Everyone that ever made it in life was given an opportunity, some of us like me were given three! All I want to see is talented folks be given a chance to shine. I don't have time or patience for mediocre blabber mouths who love the sound of their own voice. Programs like the Lee initiative are a breath of fresh air bringing new faces and approaches to the industry. Young isn't the best and old isn't the worst, evolution is however critical! The booze world is alive and moving at an incredible speed, we need all of the help we can get to keep it thriving and pushing the boundaries of taste and quality and the Women I know in this business are doing just that. Thank you!
Cheers Keith
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