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I'm a 26 year old girl, and I love, love, love whiskey. It's one of my favorite spirits (only behind gin!), and most of the girls I know enjoy it as well. Irish is my preference - Tullamore Dew, Jameson, Redbreast or (if I'm lucky) Middleton, although bourbon is right up there, too - Booker's and Woodford Reserve are my favs. Wish I was in SF this weekend so I could catch Whiskyfest - that sounds like a great time!

I grew to like it this past year because my boyfriend and one of his best friends are enamoured with Manhattans (or just straight whiskey). Woodford is definitely one of the favs - tastes and smells fantastic!

If a gal drinks whiskey and dances with her hands above her head you know you are in for one heck of a wild night.

I'm a woman and 25 and got into whiskey about a year ago, actually as the result of meeting some people at a single malt convention in DC. My first taste was of Laphroaig, and I'm still quite partial to the stuff. What's fun is seeing men's reaction when I order it (straight!) at the bar.

I can't tell you how many times a waiter has plunked down my order in front of my male companion, even if they themselves took the damn order from my mouth. Catalysts for these mix-ups:

1) Brown liquor: Bourbon, Scotch, or cocktail variation thereof (i.e. Manhattans, Old-Fashioneds). Clear liquors tiptoe into this arena if ordered in stiff proportions (i.e. anything "up" or "neat"), as do pints of heavier ales ordered in succession.
(Click for continued ranting.)

Favorite Whiskey for Everyday and Every Day: Jack
Favorite Whiskey for Feeling Fancy: Four Roses (TY, LeNell, for that intro!)
Favorite Scotches: Highland Park, Oban, Compass Box (Asyla, Hedonism, Peat Monster), Scalpa

Got into whiskey when I moved to NYC 8 years ago (cold winters and brown liquor go hand-in-hand), and it was worldly-wise bourbon-loving women that took me under their wing and taught me to love it.

I have been drinking whiskey since I started drinking. Fell in love with the taste as a kid when stealing sips of what at first I thought were my dads' cokes, only to find they were mixed...but I liked it.

Nothing else compares, and there is no second favorite or "right after blank" for me.
I drank Jack for years, before I could afford to expand my palette, and now I tend to prefer Irish. I agree on the Redbreast--very nice.
Not as big on the bourbons--they taste too sweet to me, but I am a fan of the scotches too.

Rocks, straight, in a simple cocktail or with a little soda--no froufy things, and no coke/pop.
Have been to a great tasting at a restaurant near me hosted by the awesome liquor and gourmet food shop 2 blocks from me, and am wanting to keep learning more and tasting types I have not had or can't afford.
I need a whiskey buddy though! No one I know enjoys it the same way, not even the men.

I don't mind the gender skew though, and I hope this does not become some sort of fad, where girls chug it down just because it is 'in' rather than because they really really like it.

Yay for real women who love whiskey.

I'm also a 25 year old female (though I'm >30 days from being 26), and I've been getting into whiskey & bourbon more in the past 2 years or so. I think I began as a way to stay in touch with my roots. I was born a Kentuckian, and now live "just down the road" in Tennessee.

I have always enjoyed strong drinks, where you can actually TASTE alcohol, unlike the girlie drinks other women prefer. But what REALLY got me going, was a Nashville's The Patterson House. It's a speakeasy type of joint, very sophisticated, and elegant atmosphere. The bartenders there are AMAZING and inventive. For instance, the Vincent's Ruin (Bulleit Bourbon, Lemon, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, La Muse Verte Absinthe, Lemon Bitters). Wow... If you're ever in this neck of the woods, check it out! It's done by the same people of the Violet Hour in Chicago.

hells yeah!

I'm 27 and a lady. I hated whiskey as a teenager, growing up in Canada, because I thought they would all be similar to the ubiquitous cheap rye found at high school parties. At 20, I was working in a pub in England and a ridiculously fashionable and hip female regular always drank Jack Daniels on ice. One night I tried it and fell in love with American whiskeys immediately (though these days my tastes run more to Bulleit and Knob Creek). A year or so later, again working in a bar, a fellow bartender edumacated me on nice Scotches. I haven't found a love for Irish yet, but I do like it on occasion.

I'm baffled as to why certain drinks are still considered to be gendered, though I'd love to read some comments from men who love Malibu coconut rum (so gross).

i'm a fan of Gentleman's Jack...some would call me lame for that, but it's always appealed to me.

my other half loves rye, and enjoys supporting a local brand - he drinks Pikesville.

I'm 26, female, and whiskey-rocks is definitely "my drink," particularly in the fall and winter (when spring and summer roll around, I tend towards good tequila on the rocks). When at a standard bar, I tend towards the Maker's-Woodford types, since they're widely available, but when at a whiskey bar I go for the Blanton's, Bookers, Hudson Baby, etc. Jefferson's Reserve is also phenomenal. I haven't quite developed a taste for Scotch yet, though I'm trying.

Bourbon girl all the way, here. I like the good stuff, but will drink most brands if it's what's on offer. And I like in on the rocks; no splash; no mixers.

I'm a 30 year old New York transplant who was raised in Kentucky and I adore bourbon, and have been drinking it and cooking with it (banana's foster is amazing with bourbon) since I was younger than anyone should know. Although I rarely drink, when I do, I help myself to some bourbon.

It has been the drink of choice in my family for generations - my grandfather would liberally pour it on my ice cream as a kid, as he and my grandmother enjoyed their evening bourbon cocktails. His grandfather could only be convinced to get his limb amputated with the assistance of bourbon.

When it comes to bourbon, there isn't a house in Kentucky that doesn't have at least one bottle in its bar. The "table" bourbon of choice of any Kentuckian is Maker's Mark. I was taught from a young age to mix with Marker's and keep the good stuff like Woodford Reserve and Knob Creek for drinks on the rocks or a dash of water.

Every place I have lived, be it continental Europe, the American midwest to the UK, I have always brought at least one bottle of my dark caramel friend (even had backup bottles sent via mail) to share with friends and convert them. I extol the wonders of it and after one drink, I can quiet down and let it speak for itself.

I'm a woman, 33 and I grew up on Scotch. I think I've received a bottle every year since my 19th birthday, too. I finally got my (now) husband drinking scotch when we went on a holiday last year, and now it's a hobby for him. We even took a (small) bottle of Johnny Walker Blue with us to our wedding in Mexico in September, and incorporated a toast with it into our ceremony, before we said our vows.

I am a 24 year-old female from Kentucky, so bourbon is almost like a religion. You at least have to learn to drink it, even if it's not your favorite. That being said, I prefer Maker's Mark and Woodford, but know a lot of guys who won't even touch the stuff. I just say, it's part of where I grew up!

I'm 26 and grew up with an appreciation of whiskey thanks to a Grandma who's cocktail of choice is a CC and water, and a mom who's favorite drink is Scotch neat with a glass of ice. I prefer bourbon (Makers). Add to that my husbands growing collection of islay whiskeys (current shelf includes Laphroig, Brucchladich, Caio Illa, and some other ones i won't even try to misspell. Needless to say whiskey takes up a whole liquor shelf in our house and we're definitely going to whiskeyfest in Chicago this year!

I'm in my thirties, and I'm a recent born-again convert to whiskey. In fact, it's mostly the only type of liqueur I drink anymore. My go-to drinks are Manhattans and Sazeracs, but when the weather gets cold, I love nothing better than a peaty, seaweed highlands Scotch.

Favorite Bourbon: Eagle Rare
Favorite Single Malt Scotch: Lagavulin (from Islay)

I haven't gotten into Irish or Canadian whiskey. And I haven't yet tried a Japanese whiskey, which is apparently trendy these days.

Hello from Hillary in Texas!

I wanted to share with you that all my female friends are avid whiskey drinkers. As a great mixer with diet coke (a 'girl' drink), we can imbibe whatever amount to our heart's desires without ballooning up. Of course, I may add my friends and I are big drinkers, so it was an acquired taste. I drink almost strictly only whiskey drinks these days and have for the past several years!

Most of the time I drink Jim Beam (great Bourbon for the price). Beats out every brand by far. Jim Beam is a very great friend in my social circle.

I'm a devotee to peaty scotch whiskeys: Compass Box Flaming Heart and Ardbeg's Airigh Nam Beist (only have had a glass of it, but that baby's on my X-mas list) are my favorites.

Because I usually drink scotch at get togethers, a lot of women will join in with me. I've also found that women of my grandmother's generation (in their 60's, 70's, 80's) are more likely to be scotch drinkers. My own nana, actually, almost had a run-in with my brother in law a few weeks ago, over his putting ice in his scotch. "Ruins the flavor." (I totally agree.)