Celebrating Women Distillers
This year, in addition to our annual Celebrating Women Winemakers feature, we’re celebrating the women in whiskey making some of the best products out there! We’ve made a Women Whiskey Flight Menu for your tasting pleasure.
Elizabeth McCall
Woodford Reserve
Elizabeth McCall is the Master Distiller for Woodford Reserve, overseeing quality and innovation and leading special releases, including the Master’s Collection and Distillery Series. She is a Certified Specialist of Spirits (CSS).
McCall has a master’s degree from the University of Louisville and began her career as a member of Brown-Forman’s Research and Department in 2009.
McCall was a Master Taster and Assistant Master Distiller before being named master distiller in February 2023.
She interacts one-on-one with consumers through personal barrel selections and education on sensory methodology and works to define the quality sensory standard to which every batch of Woodford Reserve must comply.
Elizabeth and her husband, Matt, have one daughter and a dog, Beasley.
Alex Castle
Old Dominick
After a high school discussion with her mother about her eventual career, Alex resolved to become a master distiller or brewmaster—a path she never strayed from. Alex's journey began at the University of Kentucky, where she earned her degree in chemical engineering. After school, Alex landed at the renowned Wild Turkey Distillery, in the heart of Kentucky's bourbon belt, as a production supervisor.
Her education and experience in the spirits industry made her a natural fit when cousins Alex and Chris Canale sought to revive their great-great grandfather's long-dormant spirits brand in 2015. As Old Dominick's Head Distiller, Alex was instrumental in the development of the distillery facilities and the production of the first spirits to roll off the line.
In January 2019, Alex was promoted to Master Distiller, a testament to her passion and dedication to craft. In December 2019, she was promoted again to Master Distiller and Senior Vice President.
Victoria Eady Butler
Uncle Nearest
Here's the story: In the 1850s, an enslaved man, Nathan "Nearest" Green, was the one who taught a young Jack Daniel how to distill Tennessee whiskey. Once the Civil War was over, Daniel then hired Green, now a free man, to be his first head distiller. But that story—Nathan Green's story — remained largely unrecognized for over a century. That was until 2017, when Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey debuted.
Victoria Eady Butler, Green's great-great-granddaughter, is Uncle Nearest's master blender and the first known Black woman master whiskey blender in history. "I'm proud that the Uncle Nearest executive team is the first all-female executive team in the whiskey industry and that we've set a standard of excellence for others to model," Butler says. "We are the example of what strong, dedicated, determined, committed females can do in decision-making positions."
Melissa Rift
Old Forester
A Louisville native, Melissa began her career as a tour guide in the whiskey industry, educating consumers about America’s Native Spirit.
She held leadership positions at distilleries in Kentucky and managed single-barrel programs before joining Old Forester in November 2022.
Melissa authentically understands the rich culture of Kentucky bourbon and shares Old Forester’s rich history and quality products with retailers, bartenders, media and consumers across the nation.
In 2023, Wine Enthusiast magazine named Melissa to its prestigious Future 40 list of winemakers, distillers and others leading in the wine and spirits industries.
“Old Forester has an authentic history as the country’s first bottled bourbon – and the only American Whiskey to exist before, during and after Prohibition,” Rift said. “There’s nothing better in the market.”
