Jackie Zykan has seen it all during her years as a bartender, educator and Master Taster for a well-known Kentucky whiskey brand.
There were lost job opportunities. “Literally, I was told I wasn’t a candidate for a role in a consumer-facing role because a male would connect more,” Zykan recalls. Microaggressions, too—like having her authority as an educator questioned or being talked over while leading seminars. Even outright abuse. “I’ve been grabbed in—the best way to phrase this is ‘no-no spots,’” she says. “I’ve been roofied at events, followed to my car, someone grabbed me by the throat and tried to shove me in the back of a van.”
Today, Zykan is a Master Blender at Louisville, Kentucky-based Hidden Barn Whiskey, which she also co-founded. As an independent business owner, she believes she’s among the few women in whiskey empowered enough to speak openly about these often-shocking events. But as a new study from the OurWhisky Foundation shows, too many women in the whiskey industry still are dealing with harassment and other issues.
(The Foundation is based in the United Kingdom, where the traditional spelling is “whisky.” The Americanized spelling is “whiskey.”)
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What the Study Shows
Conducted in July of 2023, the first-of-its-kind study aggregates anonymous responses from more than 600 women across 30 countries and a variety of whiskey industry roles. Polled women primarily hailed from the U.K. (53% of respondents) and the U.S. (27% of respondents).
Among the findings: A whopping 70% of respondents reported experiencing sexual harassment—defined as inappropriate or sexual remarks—while doing their job; 44% of those in consumer-facing roles said they’ve been inappropriately touched while doing their job; and 83% said they’d encountered customers who preferred to speak to a male colleague.
“We all know what goes on in the industry, and how women are treated and represented,” says Becky Paskin, founder of OurWhisky Foundation, an inclusive non-profit organization devoted to supporting women working in whiskey around the world. Paskin began collecting responses ahead of a seminar she led at 2023’s Tales of the Cocktail, an influential conference for the spirits and cocktail industries.
“When we realized we’d gathered over 600 responses, and saw the shocking story that data told, we knew we had to release it more widely beyond a simple seminar in New Orleans,” she explains.
Why It’s Significant
The survey is so groundbreaking because it’s the first of its kind to quantify those experiences, Paskin continues. “You can’t say ‘there’s no sexism in the industry, just because I don’t see it,’” she says. She hopes the survey’s figures will provide important ammunition—for women as well as whiskey producers—needed to take action.
“Having a survey like this gives [women] some support when they go to their company and say they need extra safeguarding, or ‘Can you do something to help me or support me?’” Paskin explains. “They have concrete evidence to support these conversations.”
What’s in a Name?
The survey’s telling title, “Do You Even Like Whisky?,” is itself a commentary on the challenges stemming from the widely held bias that men are the ones who make, consume and have expertise about whiskey.
“The name was tongue-in-cheek, fun,” Paskin explains. “But a lot of women in the industry get asked it all the time. I was asked while judging a whiskey competition by a male distiller, while I had a glass of whiskey in my hand… The only difference between us was gender.”
Tracie Franklin, founder of Get Spirited Consulting, a Washington, D.C.-based marketing and consulting business for new spirits brands, and a former national brand ambassador for Scotch brand Glenfiddich, experienced similar things over the trajectory of her career.
“Many people thought because I was young and bubbly, I couldn’t drink whiskey, and as a person of color, I felt like I was outside of all these groups, I wasn’t included,” she recalls. “I always felt like I had to know 10 times more whiskeys, because people always questioned what I was doing. But it wasn’t just me. It was all the women.”
Recommendations for the Future
Intentionally, the survey results include recommendations for improvement, including mentorship opportunities for women and bystander training for all; improving representation of women in advertising and marketing (toward that end, OurWhisky has put together The Modern Face of Whisky, a library of free images that show women enjoying whiskey); salary equity and transparency; support for parents; and recommendations that leadership teams get involved.
“Only 16% of people said the industry is doing enough,” Paskin stresses. “There’s room for improvement.”
Further, she adds, this survey is just a peek into the challenges that face women on a daily basis. More surveys are on the horizon, including those that assess men’s experiences, that she hopes will help inform policies that work for all.
“Diversity and inclusion is not a women’s problem,” Paskin states. “It’s not just the company’s problem. It’s everybody’s problem. It’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure everyone feels included and has a share of space in the industry.”
Last Updated: October 16, 2023
