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Female founders shaking up the spirits world

As International Women’s Day approaches, The Spirits Business is celebrating the talents of nine women who have founded successful spirits brands across the world.

Freeland Spirits in Oregon is led by an all-female team

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day (8 March), and with the issue of equality striking up in every industry around the world, we felt it would be important to put a spotlight on the women taking charge in the spirits world.

It’s not just female master distillers, blenders, executives and bartenders who are taking the spirits industry to the next level, there are also a number of brands being founded and led by women.

Statistics cited by US drinks group Constellation Brands show that female-led businesses are the fastest growing segment of entrepreneurship in the US and generate two times the revenue per dollar versus the average non-women-owned businesses. However, only 2% of venture capital funding went to female-led companies in 2017.

This list is by no means definitive and there are plenty of other women-led brands in the industry that deserve to be celebrated too.

As this list focuses solely on spirits and cocktail brands, other drinks categories including tonics and soft drinks are also well-served with women including mixer line Double Dutch, founded by twin sisters Joyce and Raissa de Haas and British mixer brand Sekforde Drinks, co-founded by Talula White.

Click through the following pages to see some of the leading women shaking up the spirits world with their own brands. 

Austin Cocktails

Austin Cocktails was founded in 2012 by sisters Jill Burns and Kelly Gasink in Austin, Texas. The firm uses family recipes from their grandfather Fred and features five bottled cocktails in the range that are made with premium spirits and natural ingredients.

The 15% abv range includes Cucumber Vodka Mojito, Ruby Red Cocktail, Perfect Bergamot Orange Margarita, Peppered Maple Blood Orange Bourbon Cocktail and New School Gin Mule.

More recently, Austin Cocktails, along with fellow female-led alcohol producer Vivify Beverages, received investment from US drinks group Constellation Brands as part of the firm’s Focus on Female Founders programme. The investment will “help take Austin Cocktails to a whole new level”.

Brenne

Launched by former ballerina Alison Parc, Brenne French Single Malt Whisky is created at a small farm distillery in Cognac, France. The expression is first laid to rest in French Limousin oak casks before it is finished in freshly-emptied Cognac barrels.

Parc developed a taste for whisky during her travels, when she visited local markets, wineries and distilleries.

She set out to create her own brand after failing to find many of the ‘non-traditional’ whiskies she discovered in the US. During an exploration of the world whisky scene, Parc met a third-generation Cognac producer who had started distilling single malt. Parc was instrumental in the decision to incorporate his ex-Cognac casks in the whisky ageing process, leading to the creation of Brenne.

Gem & Bolt

AdrinAdrina and Elliott Coon are the creative duo that founded Gem & Bolt mezcal. Both daughters of Bohemian bootleggers, the pair started crafting their own spirits with inspiration from their shared childhood in the mountains of Virginia.

After serving mezcal cocktails in speakeasies in California and Mexico, and learning about mezcal in Oaxaca, the duo decided to launch their own mezcal brand.

Gem & Bolt is produced by fourth-generation maestro mezcaleros in San Dionisio Ocotepec, Oaxaca, using traditional methods. To create the mezcal, eight to 10-year-old espadín agave from the highlands of Oaxaca is used.

The brand’s logo and name takes inspiration from a mythical lore. In ancient Mexico a bolt of lightning hit the heart – or gem – of the agave plant, releasing the plant’s sap, known today as mezcal.

Brighton Gin

British brand Brighton Gin was founded in 2013 by Kathy Caton, an “all-round Brighton obsessive”. When not making or drinking gin, Caton can be found on BBC Sussex and Brighton’s community radio station, RadioReverb.

Brighton Gin is “distilled by the seaside” and is made from 100% organic grain spirit, and ingredients including “juniper, fresh orange and lime peel, locally-grown coriander seed and milk thistle”. The blue/green label colour reflects “Brighton’s famous seafront railings”.

In June last year, Brighton Gin unveiled a range of eight colourful bottle designs in celebration of Brighton Pride and donated a portion of the sales to charity.

Chapel Gate Whiskey Company

Chapel Gate Irish Whiskey Company, the first modern whiskey bonder in Ireland and the country’s only all-female Irish whiskey company, was founded in 2015 by Louise McGuane.

The County Clare-based company is “the only all-female Irish whiskey company in the world”.

Launched in October 2017, Chapel Gate’s first product was JJ Corry The Gael, a blend of 5% 26-year-old single malt, 27.5% 11-year-old single malt, 27.5% 15-year-old single malt and 40% seven-year-old single grain whiskey.

A busy past 12 months for Chapel Gate has seen the company appoint a UK distributor, and expand into the US, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Macchu Pisco

Macchu Pisco was founded in 2006 by Melanie Asher and her sister Lizzie.

Born in Peru, Melanie had her first taste of her homeland’s spirit when she was 12. The brand is “a labour of love built around family” with the duo’s grandmother selling pisco in Lima, Peru, almost 100 years ago.

Armed with an MBA from Harvard Business School and experience working with large spirits firms, Melanie recognised the US’s rapidly growing interest in cocktails and artisanal products, prompting her to launch Macchu Pisco in the US market in 2008.

Ncn’ean

Independent organic Scotch whisky distillery Ncn’ean is based on the west coast of Scotland. The Highland distillery is the brainchild of Annabel Thomas and runs entirely on renewable energy.

Thomas and her team started filling casks in 2017, using ex­-Bourbon, ex-­Sherry and ex­-Spanish red wine casks. The distillery worked closely with the late Dr Jim Swan for four years, tweaking recipes and designing the “light, fresh, fruity” whisky style it hopes to produce.

While Ncn’ean waits for its Scotch to fully mature, the Highland distillery released its first expression in September 2018.

Ncn’ean Botanical Spirit is made from the distillery’s new make spirit, which is redistilled with a range of botanicals, including fresh grapefruit, locally foraged herbs such as bog myrtle and heather, coriander and juniper.

Freeland Spirits

Freeland Spirits in Portland, Oregon, celebrates the women of the craft and claims to be one of very few women-owned and female-run distilleries in the world.

Founder Jill Kuehler (pictured centre) dreamed of starting a distillery featuring Oregon agriculture for years. The vision came to fruition once her whiskey-drinking friend Cory Carman, of Carman Ranch, agreed to grow the rye for her future rye whiskey.

Freeland Spirits produces gin and Bourbon, the latter of which is aged in Pinot Noir barrels and blended to create a small batch 12-year-old Bourbon.

Fatty’s Organic Spirits

British brand Fatty’s Organic Spirits was founded by Philippa Gee in November 2017. A big fan of gin, Gee’s journey into gin began as a hobby when she started distilling in her garden in Dulwich, London, every night.

The inspiration behind the name comes from her childhood as the youngest of four siblings – her two older brothers have called her ‘fatty’ ever since she was young.

Fatty’s Organic London Dry Gin is inspired by Gee’s hometown of Dulwich. The gin features dill as a key botanical – Dulwich means ‘the meadow where dill grows’.

In addition to gin, the range also includes Fatty’s Organic Pink Grapefruit Spirit Drink. Created as an “alternative to the traditional G&T”, the low-alcohol expression is bottled at 20% abv.

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