Peggy Noe Stevens

“A Trailblazer in Bourbon and Beyond”

Peggy Noe Stevens was born to parents Rosie Schianchi Noe and Richard “Dickie” Noe. She was raised in the bourbon-centric state of Kentucky, a place where that spirit flows as naturally as conversation at holiday dinners. A cousin to Fred Noe, legendary Master Distiller at Jim Beam, Peggy is steeped in Southern traditions and hospitality and was exposed early and often to bourbon culture, where distilleries were as familiar to her as the Bluegrass landscape.

Educated at the University of Kentucky, Peggy earned a B.A. in Interpersonal Communications and Public Relations, a foundation that she would later build into a remarkable career blending hospitality, etiquette, marketing, and spirits. Fresh out of college, Peggy began her career as the catering manager for the Hyatt Hotel in Louisville, and later, also with Hyatt in Chicago. In these roles, she oversaw banquets, guest services, and corporate events, immersing herself in the world of hospitality, culinary arts, event planning, and beverage program execution. It was also at Hyatt that she developed her palate as well as a personal interest in spirits. Though she had grown up around bourbon her entire life, her formal education in tasting began at the hotel, and she quickly earned a reputation for combining gracious hospitality with serious professionalism and knowledge of spirits.

Suddenly, Peggy began to get recognition for her hard work and comprehension of true hospitality. In the early 1990s, Brown‑Forman Corporation, the parent company of brands like Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel’s, came calling for Peggy. There, she dove deeper into experiential marketing, leading brand destination strategies and creating immersive experiences for consumers, often around food and drink pairings, tourism programs, and visitor engagement at distillery sites and festivals. Later roles included global event planner and guest services director, where she managed more than 100 large-scale events annually, negotiated multimillion-dollar contracts, and shaped how hospitality intersected with brand storytelling. 

Peggy's passion and expertise led her to a historic milestone: becoming the world’s first female Master Bourbon Taster. In this role, she trained to profile barrel samples and discern particular flavor characteristics on sometimes rare and valuable whiskey samples. For Peggy, this achievement wasn’t only personal but in many ways symbolic: in an industry historically dominated by men, having a female master taster marked a turning point. She later credited the natural sensitivity of women’s palate (a characteristic supported by anatomy) for her enhanced and natural tasting skills.

In 2011, Peggy’s experience inspired her to found ‘Bourbon Women Association’, the first consumer organization in the spirits industry dedicated to women. She recognized that while women were usually present in bourbon tastings, they were often overlooked by marketing efforts aimed mostly at men. But Peggy desired to create an inclusive space,  launching the Association to provide camaraderie, education, culinary events, and tastings that were tailored for women. Under her leadership, the organization has grown to include members across most states as well as internationally, and has helped reshape how the bourbon world engages female audiences.

After 17 years at Brown‑Forman, Peggy reached a career milestone: at age 40, she launched her own firm, Peggy Noe Stevens & Associates (PNSA), in 2008. This leap into entrepreneurship was fueled by her lifelong desire to lead and innovate, despite societal expectations urging caution. The firm advises distilleries, corporate teams, and leaders in hospitality and food & beverage, helping them define brand identity through experience, culture, and service. PNSA has served to fuse her dual passions: brand architecture for hospitality destinations and professional presence development for individuals. Her clients have included Suntory-Beam Inc., Northwestern Mutual, Brown-Forman, The Kentucky Department of Travel, The Oliver Group, Frost Brown Todd, and many others.