Booknote: Whiskey Women

Fred Minnick, Whiskey Women: the Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey. Dulles, VA: Potomac Books, 2013. ISBN: 9781612345642.

Genre: history
Subgenre: women's history, alcoholic spirits, whiskey, business
Format: hardcover
Source: Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library

The book looks at the presence, role, and involvement of women in distilling spirits and making what eventually becomes known as whiskey. In the first two chapter, we get a look at early history before whiskey and the early days of distillation, and the big role women played in it, often confronted by sexism and prejudice. The remaining chapters focus on Ireland, Scotland, and the United States. Not all women were enthusiastic about whiskey, so the book also looks at women in temperance movements. We also get tales of bootlegging women all the way to modern times with women running distilleries and being whiskey entrepreneurs.

The book is a very interesting read. It's well written, fairly entertaining at times, and even inspirational in some stories. I found Bessie Williamson's story of her running Laphroaig Distillery very inspiring. We need more hard working, caring, compassionate bosses like her. In the end, we learn that women have always been part of making spirits and whiskey; it's just they've rarely been acknowledged. This book is a good way to rectify that oversight.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Granted the parts about temperance were not as enjoyable (I could not care less about self righteous abstaining people), but it was still a good book. It does maintain a good balance of topics and perspectives. Every chapter includes a series of notes to document sources; the notes are in the back of the book. The book also features a bibliography for folks wanting to read more. In the end, I really liked the book, and I recommend it. If you enjoy reading histories of spirits and whiskey, this is a good choice. It's also a nice choice if you want to read something a little different in women's history. This is overall a good selection for public libraries and for some academic libraries.

4 out of 5 stars.

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Additional reading notes:

The book giving credit to women:

"This book gives credit to the women who perfected the recipes we enjoy today and helped build iconic brands worth billions of dollars. They may not have a whiskey named after them, but the world owes them a debt of gratitude" (xiii). 

It started with women making beer:

"Long before industry perfected triple distillation or steam-powered engines, Sumerian women invented the first step to creating whiskey: they made beer" (1).

A small look at today:

"Today Diageo, the world's largest spirits company, owns Bushmills, and the Irish whiskey brand's master blender is Helen Mulholland. Bushmills is also one of the whiskies most widely enjoyed by women" (26). 

Yet another reason Prohibition was among the dumbest things the U.S. has done:

"Within six years of passing Prohibition, temperance supporters realized that drinking actually increased" (75). 

Women were very talented in bootlegging:

"For all the contributions women made behind the still, their Prohibition talents were in hiding from the law, sneaking liquor into the country, and doing whatever it took to make sure alcohol found the speakeasy" (75).

Women also talented in finding, creating, and marketing whiskey stories to sell whiskey:

"Whiskey enthusiasts relish these histories, and women have become absolutely crucial to finding stories and plastering them on packaging and advertisements to help sell whiskey brands" (138). 

Women often lead in tasting:

"Though no study indicates women can caste whiskey better than men, women are on nearly every whiskey tasting panel in the world" (155). 

And in running companies:

"Women are no longer novelties to the whiskey boardrooms. They run too many of these companies to be considered gimmicks" (143). 

Book qualifies for the following 2020 Reading Challenge: