Women in whiskey

Golden liquid hits the base of a heavy crystal tumbler, the alcohol swishes around in the glass releasing caramel and woody aromas, sometimes an ice cube drops into the elegant abyss while others prefer a dash of water. And then you taste smooth notes of barley, some peat might come through along with hints of spice. Irish whiskey is making its comeback and it’s not just evident on the shop shelves. You can see it right throughout the country’s landscape.

In 2013, there were four distilleries in operation on our island and five visitor centres. In just five years, that number has jumped to 20 working distilleries with another 25 at various stages of planning and development. It’s a whiskey revolution, and it’s no longer dominated by older men. Young vibrant women are making their mark.

Tracey Flinter, general manager, Pearse Lyons Distillery

When the late Dr Pearse Lyons took on what was to be his last but one of the important projects of his life, the Pearse Lyons Distillery at St James’, he and his wife Deirdre had one person in mind to lead the project, Tracey Flinter. “It was such a huge honour to be asked. I had been working in Alltech for about three years and at that time, I was European digital marketing officer at there. I dealt with a lot of overseas visitors visiting our European headquarters in Dunboyne and I had also done a lot of advertising and sales work on our Alltech Craft Brews & Food Fair and of course, I was starting to draft up content based on the new distillery. But to be asked to take on the role of general manager was a great honour because it was a project so close to their heart.”

Tracey says even though Alltech is a well-established company, this element was like a start-up that needed to grow from the ground up. “It involved getting the site finished, building a team, the event launch and of course seeing it through as a successful and permanent visitor experience in Dublin. It’s been such an exciting project to lead and as a working distillery, I have also learned so much working on new whiskey products that we are bringing to the market. My story isn’t unique though, there are a lot more women in whiskey, in distilling, visitor centres, in sales and marketing, and as brand ambassadors promoting Irish whiskies across the world. It seems to be infectious. For example, there is one young girl working with us who started as a storyteller in the distillery who has now sat her exams for her brewing and distilling certificate, the idea being that she will work on the production side. We want to hear more stories like that as the Irish whiskey industry grows.”

Katherine Condon, day manager and process technologist, Irish Distillers

What happens when you mix a farming background, an engineering degree and buckets of ambition? You become the day manager and process technologist at Irish Distillers in Middleton. Katherine Condon explains her role.

“It’s about ensuring that new products make a smooth transition from the R&D trial and tasting stages of development to full production. I look after the weekly targets in the brewing production. This involves scheduling the production, making sure the equipment is serviced properly, checking the quality of the grain coming in and the quality of the wash and spirit going out. I also work with our quality manager Sheila Kenny who liases with our suppliers. It’s about ensuring a consistency in taste and keeping to the traditions of the whiskey making.”

So how do you end up with a job like that? “I am from a dairy and tillage farm in Ballinascarthy in Cork. I went to UCC to do an engineering degree and when I graduated, I applied for the Jameson Graduate Distiller Programme. As well as my engineering interest, my father and brothers grow barley. Everything that isn’t used in the whiskey goes into animal feed which for me is a nice link.

Over the two years, I had the opportunity to work in the newly opened micro-distillery, it was a great learning facility and very exciting, trialling new products and innovations, laying down stock and see how it is progressing. After that, I moved up to the main distillery and started doing more work in the animal feed element of the business, getting a larger view of how it all came together. One of my favourite parts of the job is seeing the whole process from grain to glass, seeing the whiskey being made, matured and then seeing it on shelf in bars and whiskey shops. It’s an honour to be part of the full journey, and of course, I’ve got to taste some fantastic whiskies along the way.

Sarah Dowling, chief distiller and blender, Cooley Distillery

As nations, the Irish and Scots may be friends, but there is always a bit of rivalry as to who puts a better shot of whiskey in the glass? Sarah Dowling, chief distiller and blender at Cooley Distillery in Co Louth has experience in both whiskey nations. “I’m from Athlone and moved to Edinburgh to do my degree. I ended up living there for 10 years.” Sarah started out in environmental management, and it just happens that she started doing environmental compliance for a large Scotch whiskey company. After that though, she was bitten by the whiskey bug. “I found the whole thing fascinating and although I was working on legislation and energy management and recycling, I found myself knocking on the door of the blenders office, asking could I get involved in the sensory panel. As I moved jobs over the years, I found myself working more and more on the operations and production side of the whiskey industry, I even spent 18 months living in the Scottish Highlands.”

Home called though, specifically the Irish whiskey industry. “Since I have started with Cooley Distillery, I have worked on some fantastic products – Kilbeggan Blend, Kilbeggan Single Grain and Kilbeggan Rye that just came out, the first Irish rye whiskey in more than 100 years.”

“Half of my role is really technical role-working with the warehouse team on managing our stock, especially given the fact that different whiskies mature for different time periods, tasting whiskies to ensure consistency amongst the brands, monitoring our yields and production targets. And then the other part of me role is really experimental. It’s working with the different brands and maturing them in port casks, sherry casks, madeira casks and some old wine casks, finishing them in this way to see how it affects the base spirit. It’s a balancing act, laying down enough stock for the future whilst also using the best quality liquid now to grow the brands.”

Speaking about women in the industry, Sarah says: “I think the staff numbers in Coolea serve as a really good example of the role of women in the whiskey industry. We have 58 employees, 36% are female.

“And of that, 45% of the women in the company are in management roles. I have lots of role models to look up to. The whiskey industry may be perceived as male dominated but there are lots of women making a difference.”