17 Women-Founded Spirits Brands to Support Now and Always

Although named after a man—specifically, one that lived through the Golden Age of Cocktails in the 1920s and early 1930s—Thomas Ashbourne the brand is women-founded, women-led, and women-owned. Helmed by CEO Cara Kamenev with celebrity partners including Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rosario Dawson, and Sarah Jessica Parker—whose Perfect Cosmo (pictured here) is equal parts sweet and strong—Thomas Ashbourne makes drinking easy to serve and, of course, drink.

If you haven’t been able to score a table at Via Carota, at least these ready-to-pour drinks can help you forget it. The Italian restaurant’s founders, Jody Williams and Rita Sodi, recently launched a line of pre-made craft cocktails that includes two negronis (classic and white), an old fashioned, a manhattan, a signature martini, and an espresso martini. Each one is impressive, but the latter is a serious standout, complete with six-times distilled vodka and real espresso. You can even buy it as a set with the signature martini bottle and two glasses.

Miho Imada is both the toji (translation: master brewer) and president of Fukucho, a rarity among traditionally male-led Japanese sake brands. Determined to create a sake that represented the agricultural heritage of her Hiroshima hometown, she spent the past two decades reviving an extinct indigenous rice called hattanso. The result? Internationally-acclaimed and award-winning sakes from her brewery, Imada Shuzo. This crisp sparkling blend, in particular, is made through secondary fermentation in a bottle and has a light, citrusy finish.

When they first entered the wine space in 2020, Avaline’s co-founders Cameron Diaz and Katherine Power set out to create reasonably-priced natural blends made purely from organic grapes. By skipping unnecessary additives (read: colors, concentrates, sugars) and championing ingredient transparency from production to pour, they’ve delivered a range of clean wines that you can actually feel good about drinking, from a bottle of crisp white to cans of refreshing rosé.

When internet meme extraordinaire Jilly Hendrix set out to create a vodka, you could have guessed that the marketing would be on point. It’s no surprise, then, that BODY’s Instagram presence is 42,000-plus followers strong (and counting), with its own social club to boot. Fortunately, the smooth and very drinkable low-proof vodka speaks for itself. Go ahead and enjoy that second martini— you earned it.

Ever since launching Casa Dragones in 2009, Bertha González Nieves has continued to be one step ahead. The co-founder and CEO of the small-batch Mexican tequila brand has released four premium blue agave tequilas to date, with the most recent addition, Reposado, joining an already solid lineup (Joven, Blanco, and Añejo Barrel Blend). The only tequila to be made exclusively in Mizunara—a rare oak that’s traditionally used to age Japanese whiskies—the innovative new expression is a category first; it’s only fitting that it comes by way of the first female maestra tequilera.

The first major American spirit brand to be founded and led by a Black woman, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey was launched by Fawn Weaver in 2017 and went on to become the fastest growing American whiskey in U.S. history. Named in honor of the world’s first-known African American master distiller, Nearest Green, the company’s award-winning expressions come courtesy of its master blender—and Nearest’s very own great-great granddaughter — Victoria Eady Butler. While its 1856 Premium Aged Whiskey and 1884 Small Batch Whiskey can’t be missed, the brand launched its first rye last year to rave reviews.

Dubbed the “sunshine spirit,” Kasama Rum is distilled from fresh noble sugarcane in the Philippines before it’s bottled at founder Alexandra Dorda’s family distillery in Poland. The brand’s small-batch golden rum is aged seven years in ex-bourbon American oak barrels, resulting in a light flavor with hints of sweet pineapple, vanilla, and sea salt. It’ll give your go-to Caribbean rum a run for its money.

Intrigued by mezcals but find the smoky, complex varieties too intense? Enter Mezcal Campante. Co-founded in 2019 by Shirley Leigh-Wood Oakes, who also serves as CEO, the brand offers a lighter and more balanced take on traditional mezcal, a result of Leigh-Wood Oakes’ determination to bring a smooth, easy-to-drink option to market. Made from Espadin and Barril agave and grown in Oaxaca, Mexico, it’s distilled twice and meant to be savored.

Founded by Kate Hudson, King St. Vodka was born in 2019; although it’s inspired by her time spent living on a New York City block, the spirit is actually crafted in Santa Barbara, California. Produced with GMO-free corn and alkaline water, the result is a clean, gluten-free spirit that’s distilled seven times, filtered, and easy to enjoy, no matter the occasion.

Talea Beer Co. is New York City’s first exclusively female-owned brewery, with two taproom locations in Brooklyn to boot. Before they left their corporate jobs in 2020, co-founders LeAnn Darland and Tara Hankinson were avid homebrewers; together, they decided to disrupt the bro-oriented craft beer industry and create a more inclusive product that they’d want to drink with friends in lieu of a glass of rosé. The result? Low bitterness and fruit-forward flavors in their Sun Up Hazy IPA, Al Dente Italian-Style Pilsner, and more that you sample by curating a custom half-case online.

In her role as head distiller, Celina Perez oversees the day-to-day operations of Great Jones Distilling Co., handling the spirit production process from fermentation and distillation to new product development. In addition to the 5,000-gallon fermentation capacity distillery—which is the first legal whiskey distillery in Manhattan since the Prohibition—Great Jones boasts a restaurant, event space, tasting room, and cocktail bar on site. Notably, the brand uses only New York-sourced ingredients to create its craft whiskeys.

Since its launch in 2019, 21 Seeds has become a force in the spirits world. The three moms behind the brand—Kat Hantas, Nicole Emanuel and Sarika Singh—set out to create a lightly flavored tequila that was easy to mix and simply tasted good; they ended up with a company that, in March 2022, sold to the global beverage brand Diageo at one of the highest prices ever for a female-founded spirits company. They currently offer three fruit-infused tequilas: Valencia Orange, Grapefruit Hibiscus, and the just-spicy-enough Cucumber Jalepeño.

The brainchild of best friends Arden Gilfillan and Margaux Reaume, Argaux launched in 2015 as a luxe online wine destination. Entirely female-run from the sommeliers to the warehouse, it’s a great spot for discovering hidden gems in the wine world—and for its founders, spotlighting women in viticulture remains a top priority. For Women’s History Month, they’re offering a limited-edition Women in Wine Tasting Kit, which features a pair of bottles from two industry trailblazers: 2021 Uphold Wines Rosé “For the Women” made by Megan Glaab, a staunch supporter of women’s rights organizations, and 2020 Aslina Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon made by Ntskiki Biyela, who aims to develop her South African community by employing women from her village. (But remember everything else is made by women, too.)

Future Gin hails from California, where it was dreamed up by founders Amy Atwood, Mary Bartlett, Freya Estreller, and Natasha Case. The women- and queer-owned and operated brand creates a dry gin that’s distilled in downtown Los Angeles and embraces the vibrant flavors of SoCal, pairing ingredients like honeysuckle, Meyer lemon, and grape leaves with traditional botanicals. The combination of citrus and piney notes makes for a great martini or gin and tonic—plus, the brand donates 10 percent of annual sales to social justice causes.

As the co-founder and brand and marketing director of Equiano Rum, Aaisha Dadral oversees everything from the company’s branding language and tone of voice to the bottle design and social media content. Dadral invested in the brand with her friend and long-time business partner, Amanda Kakembo, and together they made equality and philanthropy core principles of the company, which produces the world’s first African and Caribbean rum in two forms: the rich and deep Equiano Original and Equiano Light, a fresh take on a classic light rum.

We’d be remiss not to mention Kendall Jenner’s small-batch tequila brand, 818. Despite the name signifying the area code of her hometown in Calabasas, California, the award-winning tequila is actually made in Jalisco, Mexico at the world-renowned La Cofradía distillery. The blanco is exceptionally smooth.