Mother of Bourbon

by

FOOD + DRINK

Beam. Noe. Van Winkle. Samuels. Anyone with a smattering of bourbon enthusiasm knows these legendary names.

But there’s a new legend emerging from the buried annals of early 20th century bourbon lore, and Kaveh Zamanian, the founder of Rabbit Hole Distillery, is making sure the whole world learns about her. Yes, her—Mary Dowling, a 2025 inductee into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame.

“I came across her name a couple of different places, really more like a footnote,” Zamanian said. “I got curious after that and started digging a little bit more to understand, you know, who she was. There are not a whole lot of people talking about female distillers or distillery owners and operators … I just started learning more, and I realized that there’s more to her story.”

Born to Irish Catholic immigrants John and Mary Murphy in 1859, Mary wed John Dowling in 1874, and together, they helped build three distilleries, including Dowling Brothers Distillery and Waterfill and Frazier.

When John Dowling died unexpectedly in 1903, Mary took charge, surprising many in the industry.

“When she was widowed in her early 40s, she was uncommonly equipped to take the reins of the Dowling bourbon business, and in 1903, when she was widowed, women didn’t have the right to vote, and few women owned their own businesses, very few,” said Cathy Stewart Brown, Dowling’s great-great-granddaughter. “A female manager among distillers was an anomaly. She taught us gender and talent didn’t know any boundaries.”

The Dowling empire thrived under Mary’s leadership, affording her opportunities for philanthropic endeavors. 

“She was a pillar of the community of Lawrenceburg,” Brown said. “She did so many things. When there was discrimination against Irish Catholics, she helped build her church. She championed immigrants and women’s rights and created a free hospital in Lawrenceburg. So, she just did wonderful things for her community while being a trailblazer in the bourbon industry.”

•  •  •

Then came the 18th Amendment, otherwise known as Prohibition. The Dowling distilleries, like most in Kentucky, shut down. But in 1923, Mary and four of her children were charged with bootlegging. She spent the next three years fighting the charges in court, ultimately losing the battle and seeing two of her sons serve prison time. While she maintained her innocence, prosecutors were determined to bring her empire down.

“We’re talking about a period where women had no rights at all, no rights to property, to vote,” Zamanian said. “But I also think the fact that she was Irish Catholic … and there was the undercurrent of prejudice. She was also a very vocal person who, I think, had the right moral compass, and she took a position on those types of issues. You blend all those things together, [and] it created a perfect storm to have people in opposition to her.”

Undeterred, Mary hired a member of the Beam family to dismantle the Waterfill and Frazier Distillery and defiantly rebuilt it in Juarez, Mexico, under the name D&W Distillery.

“Mary was so creative in overcoming the limitations imposed by the 18th Amendment,” Brown said. “She thought outside the box by moving that distillery to Mexico, where she could make [bourbon] legally. She knew the 18th Amendment was not going to completely change people’s desire to drink bourbon.” 

 The Juarez distillery remained in operation until 1964, 34 years after Mary Dowling’s death in 1930.

•  •  •

It is that determination, ingenuity and guts that Zamanian wants the whole world to know about. In late 2023, Zamanian launched the Mary Dowling Whiskey Company. He also joined forces with author Eric Goodman to memorialize Mary’s life in print, releasing the book Mother of Bourbon: The Greatest American Whiskey Story Never Told.

“We spent about a year and a half doing as much research as we could, and the more we found out, the more interesting her story became,” Zamanian said. 

The pair conducted countless interviews and researched newspaper accounts, United States Census records and county records. 

Mother of Bourbon is presented as historical fiction to account for the lack of Mary’s written records.

“I think there were maybe a couple of characters that we added where we felt like the story needed some additional voices,” Zamanian said. “But by and large, all the characters are real—certainly the family members, the cast of characters around the court case. We decided to take some creative license and imagine what the conversations would be like, but otherwise, we had access to Mary’s descendants and pictures … as well as descendants of the Beam family and pictures from their side.”

Brown said they were cautiously optimistic about the book’s release.

“As a family member, we’ve always known her story and her legacy,” she said. “We just didn’t see someone bringing her life story forward and telling it in the most wonderful way. It is historical fiction, so we were a little nervous about what they were going to say. I think they did create the conversations, but the characters are all true in there.”

As if a book wasn’t enough to honor her legacy, the Mary Dowling Whiskey Company has released three bourbons: Winter Wheat, Double Oak Barrel and Tequila Barrel.

“I decided to release a wheated bourbon because I never want to create and release the same recipe for two brands, and Rabbit Hole does not have a wheated bourbon. I wanted to make sure that Dowling offers a very distinct liquid,” Zamanian said. “So that was part of the rationale behind releasing a wheated bourbon for Dowling, and a double oak wheated, and then the high rye, which was close enough to the mash bill she was producing in Juarez—a little bit of a nod to that part of her history.”

Mary’s great-great-granddaughter said it’s a history of resilience that needs to be told.

“It’s just hard to put into words the tremendous pride our family feels that this remarkable legacy of our great-great-grandmother is being honored,” Brown said. “I think she inspires us to embrace challenges and find solutions in seemingly insurmountable obstacles and that she shows us that an indomitable spirit lives within each of us.” 

Influential Women of Bourbon

Mary Dowling’s story may have been obscured over the past 100 years, but her legacy helped pave the way for women to blaze even more trails in the bourbon industry. While this list is by no means comprehensive, here are a few outstanding women who have contributed to the history and success of Kentucky bourbon.

  • Jane Bowie Co-founded Potter Jane Distilling in Springfield after serving as head of blending at Maker’s Mark.
  • Marianne Eaves Named Kentucky’s first female bourbon master distiller since Prohibition while working at Frankfort’s Castle & Key Distillery. She recently launched a new label: Forbidden Bourbon.
  • Dixie Sherman Demuth The late owner of the former Dixie’s Elbow Room who challenged and overturned a state law that banned women bartenders and prohibited women from being served at a bar. She died in 2020.
  • Kathleen DiBenedetto While working for Jim Beam, she was credited with bringing small-batch brands into the mainstream and helping inspire the modern bourbon renaissance.
  • Mary Jane Dickerson Administrative assistant with the world-famous Kentucky Bourbon Festival.
  • Katrina Egbert Longtime employee of Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg, credited with boosting the brand’s popularity and expansion.
  • Dee Ford Serves as brand home general manager at Angel’s Envy in Louisville and currently chairs the Kentucky Distillers’ Association’s Bourbon Trail Committee.
  • Rita L. Greenwell Longtime administrative assistant of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association.
  • Pamela Wood Gover Former marketing manager at Bardstown’s Sazerac and former executive director of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival.
  • Dixie P. Hibbs Historian and author of nearly a dozen books, including Prohibition in Bardstown: Bourbon, Bootlegging & Saloons and Bardstown: Hospitality, History and Bourbon.
  • Mollie Lewis President of New Riff Distilling in Newport.
  • Hannah Lowen Chief executive officer of New Riff Distilling in Newport.
  • Elizabeth McCall Woodford Reserve’s first female master distiller and the third master distiller in the brand’s history.
  • Donna Nally Creator of Maker’s Mark’s original visitors center and one of the original founders of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival and Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
  • Joyce Nethery Co-founder, co-owner and master distiller of Shelbyville’s Jeptha Creed Distillery.
  • Joy Perrine Award-winning Louisville bartender and co-author of The Kentucky Bourbon Cocktail Book and More Kentucky Bourbon Cocktails.
  • Susan Reigler Past president of the Bourbon Women Association and author and co-author of numerous books, including The Kentucky Bourbon Cocktail Book, Kentucky Bourbon Country: The Essential Travel Guide, and her most recent release, Kentucky Bourbon: The Essential Guide to the American Spirit.
  • Margie Mattingly Samuels The sole inductee in the 2014 Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame, she and husband Bill Samuels Sr. founded Makers Mark Distillery.
  • Peggy Noe Stevens Named the world’s first female master bourbon taster, founder of the Bourbon Women Association and co-founder of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
  • Andrea Marie Wilson Chief operating officer and master of maturation at Michter’s Distillery and the first woman to chair the Kentucky Distillers’ Association board of directors.