As a family owned business, and generally in honor of just loving our mamas, we wanted to share one of our favorite bourbon histories about a true bourbon hero, and one bad-a** mother, Mary Dowling.
Born Mary Murphy in Kentucky in 1858, Mary Dowling married into the whiskey business at the young age of 17. Her husband, John Dowling, who was 20 years her senior, was a partner at Waterfill & Frazier, and when he passed, Mary was left to not only care for their 8 children, but also the whiskey business they’d built.
While the bourbon industry was, at that time, heavily male-dominated, Mary thrived and asserted herself as a successful business woman and became known for her charitable causes. Her public opposition of the government’s adoption of Prohibition in 1920 made her somewhat of a civic leader, but later also landed her in trouble with the law.
In 1925, Mary and four of her adult children were charged with violation of the Dry Laws. The family was convicted, but Mary appealed, giving her time to flee the country with a new plan. She hired Joe I. Beam (yes, of that Beam family) to disassemble her distillery and move it to Jaurez, Mexico, where distilling was legal. She partnered with Antonio Bermudez, and the two formed the D & W Distillery, where they made and distributed Mary’s whiskey recipes in Mexico (though some was of course smuggled back into the US.)
Unfortunately Mary died in 1930, just a few weeks before Prohibition was repealed, but her legacy lives on through her family and a new whiskey brand that boasts her name.
In June 2023, the CEO of Rabbit Hole, Kaveh Zamanian, announced a new brand, Mary Dowling Whiskey Co. The line features two products, a double-oaked wheated bourbon and a high-rye bourbon finished in tequila barrels, as an ode to Mary’s story. The bourbon is available at select bars and retailers in Kentucky, so be sure to try some next time you’re on a tour!
