On Women + Whisky

I’ve heard it all over the years, from “she’s just a marketing campaign” or “a stunt”, to “I was expecting a George”. All said behind my back and to my face or written in open blogs and social chains. Even confused looks of “is she lost?” when I’ve walked into rooms to host tastings.

Heck, I even had one company (not my current) hire a stylist (hired by my male boss) to dress me and cut my hair shorter so that I fitted their image of what a woman in whisky should look like - I don’t think I’ve ever felt more uncomfortable. I remember standing up explaining a complicated distillation process with huge fake eyelashes and so much makeup applied by hired makeup artists that I hardly recognised myself. Yet, under all that I had a first-class diploma in distillation and a scholarship to the Worshipful Company of Distillers. Apparently not enough. Not to speculate, but I HIGHLY doubt that a man would’ve faced the same predicament. 

The reason I’m telling you all this is not to lament, for lamenting will get us nowhere and it really isn’t all doom and gloom. Rather, it’s to offer perspective of what it can be like for a woman working in whisky, and to tell you that - positively - public and industry perception on who a whisky drinker is HAS taken enormous strides and changed over the last ten years. That being said, it’s still not perfect; we have quite a way to go so that future generations don’t have to experience this typecasting, and all of us need to be part of this change. So, this is why I’m writing this - to explain the situation and offer some (hopefully) practical solutions as to how we all can be allies to the shift in mindset for future generations.

“What’s it like to be a woman in whisky?” 

The first time I heard this question from a journalist it was novel - however, I was ten years younger. I answered politely with a sweet smile on my face. Then, still with a smile, it became more and more irritating. But still… a polite answer, joking “Well I’ve never been a man so I wouldn’t know the difference”, really wanting to ask them in an ironic tone, “would you ask a man the same question?” 

In 2016 someone at work told me that the reason it’s still being asked is that it still has to be. Why? Because we’ve not yet normalised the fact women make and enjoy whisky. Thus, my job and the job of every woman out there is to continue answering this until we have to no more. And men - you’re not off the hook either, for this responsibility also rests on your shoulders to support in these situations. Every moment is an opportunity for re-education, so if you notice any sideways or ‘off the cuff’ comments when we’re not there, please step in and say something. It really will take the concerted effort from everyone to undo the gendered messaging of the past that’s engrained in our minds and informs our unconscious bias. That includes not just those directly involved in the whisky industry but anyone pouring or selling it.

I believe we’re doing our category, in fact any category, a disservice if we try to make it only for some and not for all. This is a big problem for whisky, especially Scotch, as my own experience shows - but it is not limited to this.

Change isn’t going to happen overnight 

Changing our cultural perceptions of what a whisky drinker looks like will take time. Whisky’s reputation as ‘a man’s drink’ was created in the Sixties through advertising (if you don’t know what I’m referring to, Google “sexist whisky advertising”); even as recently as fifteen years ago we’ve seen two polarising campaign themes within some whisky advertising: pin-up models, and “drink this and you’ll be successful”. 

Even with all the work done to date, and the good intentions of our industry in general, we have yet to reach a point of normalisation within the wider consumer audience. And with whisky’s stereotyped history and how it’s been embedded into modern culture, change won’t happen overnight. As recent as last year, sitting at a very well-known bar in London I ordered a cocktail and the bartender responded with, “are you sure, it’s got whisky in it?” Is it the bartender’s fault that he asked this? No, I don’t think so, but situations like this can hopefully be remedied in the future, and one the ways I’m trying to partake in this change is through OurWhisky. 

OurWhisky 

In 2018 Becky Paskin and I started up OurWhisky because we felt we had a responsibility to do more, shine the spotlight on the truth when others have ignored it. It’s something we both feel incredibly passionate about: the dated image has affected our past, less so our present, and hopefully not at all our future. But for others - the new generation - wouldn’t it be great if it didn’t affect them at all? What if they didn’t have to jump over obstacles like a performing show pony like we did? What if they didn’t have to sit in the back of tastings while someone made lurid jokes about ‘virgins’ in reference to virgin casks, or questions about them being hired because of their sex, rather than on a basis of their knowledge, passion and accolades? Our belief is that “you can’t be what you can’t see” - we’re not only here to celebrate successes in the face of adversity, but also show that through diversity we can achieve great things as an industry.

What we can all do  

These are some steps that we can take to make whisky more inclusive, but also could be applicable to other spirit categories: 

1. Never assuming knowledge based on someone’s appearance 

2. Avoiding gendered drinks marketing on menus 

3. Bar managers organising unconscious bias training 

4. Brands including non-gendered messaging in their training and advertising campaigns

5. Opening up your whisky tastings to a wider audience

6. Featuring whisky events and promos for both Mother’s and Father’s Day

I like to joke that a whisky show is the only place in the world where the queue for the women’s loo is shorter than the men’s. As much as I love this, I look forward to the day that changes.