Jacquelyn Marie Zykan

Born in 1984 in St. Louis, MO, Jacquelyn Marie Zykan has blazed a path through the bourbon industry. She wasn’t always into whiskey. At a young age, Jackie was interested in science and chemistry, which led to a long career in the medical field. Graduating from Incarnate Word Academy, Jackie pursued her dreams by attending the University of Missouri-St. Louis. There, she studied biology and chemistry, culminating in a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 2008.

During her time at college, Jackie worked at a hospital and then a veterinary clinic, and decided that neither job was for her. She also worked as a bartender and mixologist, and finally moved to Louisville when her then-husband accepted a job there. Unsure of her career path, she decided to return to working behind the bar.

Jackie took on many challenges at a multitude of bars before settling in at Doc Crow’s in downtown Louisville. In 2010, she was promoted to the Beverage Director for Falls City Hospitality, overseeing four different bars and restaurants’ beverage programs. As a bartender in Louisville, her skills were frequently in demand for special events hosted by the distilleries. While working at those events, she got a reputation for having a very discriminating palate. Not one to sit still, Jackie was also networking herself by accepting and executing many bartending jobs and cocktail developments for various bourbon brands such as Four Roses, Heaven Hill, and Woodford Reserve.

In 2015, partly because of her well-known palate, Jackie was hired as a spokesperson for Old Forester. Her first day on the job was July 6th, 2015, which is ironically the same day as the Whiskey Row fire at the new Old Forester distillery on Main Street in Louisville. Originally carrying the title of Master Bourbon Specialist, Jackie’s position was one of PR and marketing, but when she learned the extent of the project for the new distillery on Whiskey Row and boldly told Campbell Brown, President of Brown-Forman, that by the time the new distillery opened, she’d be Master Taster for the Old Forester brand. Then she got down to work doing all the necessary training and championing herself for the role—when the distillery opened, Jackie was, indeed, promoted to Master Taster.

Since her move into her new role Jackie has had a direct hand in many Old Forester products. She has been integral in the MTS (Master Tasters Selection) line of distillery only releases, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, President’s Choice, Old Forester 1910, Old Forester Statesman, Old Forester Rye Old Forester 150th Anniversary releases and the 117 Series. Jackie’s signature adorns the label for the 117 series, a first to have a woman’s signature on the label in the company’s 150 year history. Jackie was also fully responsible for the single barrel program. She led the charge for consumers by discontinuing the 90 proof offering of single barrels and moving to 100 proof and barrel proof single barrels. She also was instrumental in the development of the Old Forester Barrel Proof Rye Whiskey.

While on a ski trip to Colorado in which she was focused on playing in the snow with friends rather than job-hunting, she heard about a new local bourbon startup. During a 5.5 hour white-knuckle wintery road trip to go cross-country skiing, everyone in the car had a lot of time to talk. As luck would have it, the person behind the wheel that day was Nate Winegar, Co-Founder of The 5280 Whiskey Society. As Winegar talked, he shared that he, along with Matt Dankner and Royce Neeley (Co-Founder of Neeley Family Distillery in Sparta, Kentucky), were thinking of starting a whiskey brand. Not long after the trip, in July of 2022 Jackie left Old Forester to partner with the trio to start Hidden Barn Whiskey.

Jackie married her firefighter boyfriend Chris on her last day at Old Forester, which, coincidentally, was her first day at Hidden Barn Whiskey.

Contributed By: Paul Eggerding, Chicago, Illinois

with support from Daniel Snyder, Whiskey Founders Committee Chair, Champaign, Illinois