By Jay McKinney

Throw out the pre-conceived notion that women only want to drink Cosmopolitans and Lemon Drops. While the spirits industry may be slow to recognize it, the ladies will reach for a bottle of bourbon just as fast as the men who are the target of most marketing efforts.

Bourbon Women is a nationwide organization that aims to celebrate women’s love of bourbon, and Colorado now has its own branch. Nancy Roberts has stepped up to lead the Colorado group, while Peggy Noe Stevens heads the national group.

A 2020 study of social media photography showed women are underrepresented, according to OurWhisky, an organization that supports women and promotes diversity in the bourbon world. The disparity between men and women was staggering with 3,896 images featuring men and a mere 1,707 including women. It may be an increase from the advertising half a century ago, but the times are changing and women are slowly immersing themselves into the spirits industry as producers, thought-leaders and, most of all, consumers.

Keep reading to learn about Roberts and Stevens and their mission to empower more women in the bourbon scene.

Peggy Noe Stevens

Bourbon Women was founded by Master Bourbon Taster Peggy Noe Stevens in 2011. Stevens has been immersed in the hospitality industry for years, working for hotels straight out of college, where she learned extensively about whiskey and wine. She eventually landed a job working for the Brown-Forman Corporation (the producers of Jack Daniels, Woodford Reserve and others) and became a Master Bourbon Taster during her 17-year stint with the whiskey powerhouse.

Throughout her career in marketing, Stevens says she knew there were plenty of women interested in bourbon, but the industry was slow to recognize it. Bourbon continued to be seen as a man’s drink and the industry focused on predominately white males as their target audience.

After starting her own company in 2008, Stevens wanted to test the waters in her native Kentucky to see how receptive women would be to a bourbon membership or club of some sort. The result was extremely positive and the news of the Bourbon Women spread, with other states soon inquiring about starting their own branches. While the love of bourbon is the catalyst to bring these women together, Stevens believes it’s their shared interests in other areas that make the group so strong.

“Bourbon is the foundation that brought us together but it’s a psychographic of women,” Stevens says. “These women love camaraderie, food, travel and they all have a sense of soft adventure.”

While Stevens hails from the mecca of Bourbon, she praises Colorado for its craft distilling scene.

“In a word, what I think about Colorado’s distilling industry is ‘amazing,’” Stevens says. “I have really been taken aback by the number of distilleries that have launched throughout the entire state. I think anytime someone can go to a particular state and taste the regionality and the personality of those brands, it’s really interesting to me.”

Nancy Roberts

It’s no secret that the initial COVID-19 lockdowns had people flocking to the liquor store to make sure they were stocked on the essentials. Nancy Roberts, a Colorado native who lives in Broomfield, didn’t just consume booze out of lockdown boredom. She became an aspiring bourbon aficionado, found out about the Bourbon Women organization and reached out to see how she could join.

“In 2020 I contacted them to ask if they had a branch here and they said no, but would you like to start one?” Roberts says. “I said sure, because it was the middle of COVID and what else do we do but start weird projects.”

This December the Colorado branch will celebrate its official one-year anniversary, and it has flourished under Roberts’ leadership. All of the Bourbon Women branch leaders do it voluntarily out of love for the spirit and the camaraderie found within the group.

“The whole premise of the organization is that we’re non-profit and we’re raising money to help promote women in the industry,” Roberts says. Whenever possible, each branch works closely with local craft distillers to promote the regional flavor as well. In Colorado, Roberts first coordinated events with Old Elk Distillery, Distillery 291 and Breckenridge Distillery. The three distilleries all had women employees and were extremely helpful in promoting the new Bourbon Women branch and spreading the word. There’s no question that it’s easier to spark interest and increase membership when women can attend a local craft distillery and get the VIP treatment with private tastings and tours.

“Colorado distilleries are producing great craft spirits and we want to make sure we promote Colorado distilleries,” Roberts says. “Every one of our events also has an educational element so that you’re learning more about whiskey and the production of whiskey. It’s really been fascinating to see how much women want to know the details. We’re just detail-oriented in nature.”

Roberts and Stevens met in person last summer at a Bourbon Women event hosted at Laws Whiskey House in Denver. Laws’ dark rackhouse was buzzing with enthusiasm as attendees waited to meet Stevens. She held a group tasting and spoke on the local flavor.

“It’s very rare to get Peggy at an event, because she’s a legend, and we were just so flattered that she could attend,” Roberts says. “Other states’ branch leaders have asked, ‘how in the world did you get Peggy’ and I’m hoping we can get her to come to future events in Colorado.”

Jay McKinney grew up in Sedalia and graduated from the Metropolitan State University of Denver with a bachelor’s degree in communications. During his free time, he enjoys playing golf, shooting pool and hiking throughout Colorado and neighboring Utah.

This article appeared in the November-December issue of Thirst Colorado. Click here to read the full magazine online, and pick up our print magazine all over Colorado.