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Women are making history in the distilling industry.

Julie Cobb says women’s pioneering efforts in the manufacture of whiskey has been largely overlooked due mainly to it being a man’s world, but women are now taking a shot at breaking through that glass ceiling.

“Until 2009, there was only two distillers in the state of Tennessee. Those were Jack and George,” said Cobb. “There was another one down the road that most have forgotten about and that was Prichard’s in Kelso, Tenn. That being said, a lot of those new distilleries had to be sourced whiskey. What that means is that these people were making their own recipes and everything but they weren’t able to distill their own product.”

Alex Castle became the first female master distiller in 2017. She is the senior vice president of Old Dominick Distillery in Memphis.

“There were a lot of female distillers but no female master distiller until Alex,” said Cobb. “Now, Fawn Weaver and Victoria Eady Butler, have done wonders.”

Weaver is the CEO and founder of Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville. She created Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey in 2016. It is the fastest-growing American whiskey brand in U.S. history, the best-selling African American-founded spirit brand of all time, and was the most award-winning American whiskey of 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Butler, who is the great-great granddaughter of Nathan “Nearest” Green, joined Nearest Green Distillery in 2019. She is a master blender. In 2021, she became the first female to be awarded Master Blender of the Year at the American Icons of Whisky Awards. In 2022, she became the first person to win the award for two consecutive years.

Nathan “Nearest” Green, also known as Uncle Nearest, was a pioneer in distilling Tennessee whiskey. An enslaved man, he taught Jack Daniel the process in the 1850s.

Nearest Green Distillery sells four million bottles of whiskey per year.

“From 2017 to 2023, there have been, between the bourbon and Tennessee whiskey industry, there are probably 13 female master distillers. That really makes me proud. The reason I got involved in whiskey and women’s history in it is because I come from a long line of agriculture.”