Women have always been a vital part of shaping the bourbon industry — even if history has not always recognized them. Jackie Zykan is among bourbon’s most recognized names today. She spent seven years as Old Forester’s master taster. Her signature on the Old Forester 117 Series marked the first time a woman’s name appeared on one of the brand’s labels. She is a former master blender at Hidden Barn Whiskey and has launched ODUOAK, a fragrance line inspired by bourbon’s aromas.
September is Bourbon Heritage Month, and I recently spoke with Zykan about her career, what gets left out of bourbon’s heritage story and the growing role of women in the industry today.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Ayisha Jaffer: What first drew you into bourbon, and what roles have you taken on across the industry as you've built your career?
Jackie Zykan: I don't know that I would have ended up in bourbon had I not moved to Louisville, KY, and I moved here right at the time that craft cocktails were gaining traction everywhere. So then I became a bartender. And then I became a bar manager. And then I became a beverage director and just kind of climbed through the ranks.
The recipe creation was my outlet. And being here in the mecca of bourbon really put a lot of opportunities in front of me to say yes to and just slowly but surely grew a name for myself as someone who would show up on time, someone who would do a good job, and someone who was just going to deliver something fresh that was outside the box. I think that's kind of been my bourbon imprint as this sort of nontraditional, modernized expression of a piece of the bourbon industry.
AJ: So women have long been part of bourbon making, even if their contributions weren't always acknowledged. What do you think has been left out of the heritage narrative, and why?
JZ: I think that women have always played a role in bourbon and in every industry. I think it's important to give credit where credit is due to those who are contributing. And yes, this industry was very, very focused on a man's drink in a man's world, because dudes were the ones making decisions on what was making it to the ad. But it's nice that people are starting to talk about it, and I'm very curious to see more women talk about it.
AJ: Your career has taken you from mixology to master taster to entrepreneur, now even into fragrance with ODUOAK. How do you see those different roles connecting, and what does it say about bringing fresh perspective to a tradition-bound industry?
JZ: It took a lot of scarcity fear-facing for me to leave a very good job in a corporate setting with a really great brand and great people and then go independent, and then just have to somehow find the trust within myself that I am creating something of value, what I have to say deserves to be said, and I can support myself and do this solo. So five years later, it's still a one-woman show, but I have completely now been able to support myself without selling whiskey, but now just selling perfume.
And this came at a really interesting transition time because my partner back in January passed away in a drunk driving accident. And so after that, I made the decision to remove myself from brand association. There's ways we can celebrate bourbon that aren't just consumption.
It's been a fascinating journey, but it is a labor of love, and it is a very vulnerable, naked space to be in when you take your memories — what did it smell like? If you could smell a memory, what would it be? The season, the person, the food, the whatever — you bottle that, and then you sell it to somebody, and they spray it, and that transmutes it and gets rid of it so you heal from it. That is literally what I'm doing with ODUOAK.
AJ: I'm really sorry for your loss.
JZ: Thank you.
AJ: So as more women are becoming part of the bourbon story today, how do you see the industry changing, and where is there still work to do?
JZ: I think that there's a lot of opportunity still for the industry to actually respect the ideas that women are bringing to the table as far as strategy, marketing, sustainability, innovation, even just employee culture at large.
It might look like the scales are evening out, but I think behind the curtain, there's a lot of voices still yet to be heard.
So we'll see.
