Meet Five Women Distillers Blending Science and Tradition to Create Spirits Worth Savoring
Words by Nicole Letts
Photos by Sabrina Hill, Jepetha Creed, Justin Hartley, Robb Scharetg, Brooke Bragger
The craft spirits industry has long been shaped by an image of copper stills presided over by bearded men in flannel. Today, a new generation of female distillers is challenging that narrative, not by asking for a seat at the table but by building their own. They’re master distillers, flavor innovators, and business owners who bring chemical engineering degrees and hospitality expertise to an industry that’s finally learning to recognize what it’s been missing: a woman’s perspective. These women aren’t just making spirits; they’re challenging assumptions about what spirits should taste like, who gets to define quality, and how craft distilleries can operate sustainably while supporting local agriculture and communities. The five women profiled here share an unwavering commitment to the craft.
Chemistry Class
Debbie Word and her daughter Danielle Donaldson lead Chemist Spirits. Based in Asheville, North Carolina, the distillery opened in 2018 and draws inspiration from Prohibition-era apothecaries who sneakily used prescriptions to keep alcohol flowing to customers. Word found herself increasingly intrigued by moonshining history, while Donaldson’s chemistry and pharmacy background offered expertise that honors the science behind fermentation. Chemist specializes in vapor-infused gin, such as its chocolate orange gin liqueur made with the brand’s own barrel-rested gin and finished with excess cacao husks from French Broad Chocolate Co., along with sweet Spanish orange. Of course, because Word never believed in settling for a spirit she didn’t enjoy, she and Donaldson also proudly create their own single-malt whiskeys. The distillery and tasting room itself, located in the bustling South Slope neighborhood, is like stepping back in time. Word, an avid historic preservation hobbyist (read: expert antiquarian), has curated an authentic speakeasy atmosphere using period antiques. Despite Hurricane Helene’s devastating setbacks in 2024, including flooding Chemist’s anticipated Biltmore Village location, the team perseveres. It’s no surprise, then, that their most popular merchandise proudly declares, “Distilling is women’s work.”
Heirloom Heritage
Master distiller Joyce Nethery and her daughter, Autumn, run Jeptha Creed, a Shelbyville, Kentucky, distillery that opened in 2016. The family operation grows all its corn within 10 miles of the distillery on their own farmland, including rare heirloom varieties like “Bloody Butcher”—a non-GMO, open-pollinated corn dating back to the 1800s. Joyce, a former chemical engineer who distilled industrial monomers before becoming a high school chemistry and physics teacher, brings technical expertise to the craft. Her husband farms the corn using saved seeds, while Autumn oversees marketing and sales after studying brewing and distilling in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she discovered the family’s passed-down Scottish phrase “Never Forget,” which ultimately inspired the company’s motto, “Don’t Forget Where You Came From. The distillery produces four flagship bourbons, including a red, white, and blue bourbon made with three corn varieties, with proceeds supporting veterans’ organizations. From seed to bottle, Jeptha Creed weaves together family history, local heritage, and a deep respect for Kentucky’s agricultural traditions.
If you love the creativity that’s going on in craft spirits and spirits altogether, support your local distillery. They are the reason why there is all this innovation and creativity in spirits. Keep supporting the little businesses out there. — Becky Harris
Bubble Over
Distiller Ashley Hallford leads flavor development at Deerfish Distillery, Mobile, Alabama’s first craft distillery, which she co-founded with her husband, Austin, as well as her sister-and-brother-in-law, Emilie and Lee Hallford. After spending eight years as general manager at a Pacific Northwest distillery, where she built a roughly $250,000 tasting room and restaurant, Ashley moved with Austin to his hometown to create their own operation. She’s now the creative force behind Fish Hook, their vodka-seltzer brand, developing recipes made with natural fruit to deliver seltzers at 7% ABV. Her signature flavors—satsuma peach, watermelon lime, and honeydew cucumber—are each carefully balanced through trial and refinement. Ashley has taken full ownership of recipe development, expanding well beyond the base formulas Austin initially provided. The family-owned operation blends and cans everything on site, and she’s already experimenting with new directions for the brand—think whiskey sours—as the team moves closer to its future whiskey release. Even as the lineup grows and evolves, her vision remains the same: to showcase the local ingredients and flavors that define Mobile.
Rye Revival
Becky Harris, head distiller and co-founder of Catoctin Creek Distillery, has been crafting 100% rye whiskey in Purcellville, Virginia, since 2010. A chemical engineer by training, Harris runs the production side while her husband manages the business—a reversal of typical distillery roles. She’s committed to reviving Virginia’s whiskey heritage, using heirloom Abruzzi rye grown in the state’s Northern Neck by a multigenerational farmer. Unlike mass-produced rye sourced globally, Harris’s approach honors the crop’s historical role as a winter companion to Virginia’s once-thriving tobacco fields. Her pot still method captures the velvety, fruity depth of rye that challenges the spice-bomb stereotype. One of her most popular bottles is the Roundstone Rye Cask Proof. The spirit is aged in 30-gallon barrels that previously held maple syrup from southwest Virginia producers before being bottled at cask strength. Liquid from the used syrup barrels becomes one of the distillery’s most anticipated annual releases. Harris advocates fiercely for craft distilleries, working with the American Craft Spirits Association to modernize regulations on alcohol sales and ensure small producers can build sustainable businesses that support local agriculture and living wages for workers.
These women aren’t just making spirits; they’re challenging assumptions about what spirits should taste like, who gets to define quality, and how craft distilleries can operate sustainably while supporting local agriculture and communities.
Experimental Evolution
Head distiller Tiana Saul began her journey at Chattanooga Whiskey in 2015 as a retail associate, far from where she stands today overseeing production at the Tennessee distillery. A cultural anthropology and ethnomusicology graduate with no formal distillation training, Saul worked her way from tour guide to front-of-house manager before joining the production team in 2017. She eventually specialized in new product development and blending, helping establish the distillery’s specialty line of liqueurs and unique spirits, all made with natural infusions. After a brief stint at Pinhook Bourbon, Saul returned as head distiller in 2023, leading a team that maintains Chattanooga Whiskey’s experimental ethos while managing grain-to-glass production. Her innovations include using whiskey distillate as the base for the brand’s specialty spirits rather than neutral grain spirit, creating the distinctive character found in the distillery’s first gin, which Saul championed. While every new release has her stamp of approval, she credits the gin as her proudest achievement and a testament to her “know the rules to break them” approach to craft distilling.
