When you first meet Elizabeth O’Neill you can’t help but notice her warm and welcoming smile. She radiates a sweetness that makes her seem younger than her 30 years of age. She laughs easily, often.
Her drink of choice is anything but sweet. You won’t find O’Neill ordering a fruit-flavored martini or a cocktail named after a popular vacation site. She’s a bourbon-on-the-rocks-splash-of-water-squeeze-of-lemon-kind-of girl.
“I love a good Old Fashioned, too,” says O’Neill, who discusses bourbon with a reference reserved for aficionados. Her posture straightens, the inflection in her voice deepens and her demeanor becomes undeniably more confident. She doesn’t just drink bourbon—in her role as Sensory Scientist and Master Taster for Brown-Forman (850 Dixie Highway) O’Neill sips it, smells it, tests it, samples it, measures it, writes about it and helps create it.
Six years ago, the University of Louisville graduate joined the Brown-Forman’s Research and Development Department as a technician. In her current position a typical day may consist of drilling holes into bourbon barrels for direct sampling, conducting testing and tasting panels and educating consumers.
Inside the Bourbon Lab
While it may seem like a lot of sipping goes on in the lab, it’s actally more “nosing.” O’Neill must recognize the nuances of each beverage, detect any defect and distinguish that the product hits all the right flavor notes. She does this mainly through smell. There are more than 100 flavor chemicals in bourbon from spicy mango to cooked corn.
“It takes a lot of time to train your memory,” she says. “That’s what sensory means. We use the human being as an instrument to gain product knowledge.”
Her innate skill and passion caught the attention of Brown-Forman Master Distiller Chris Morris, who trained O’Neill to become Master Taster. As the manager of the Whiskey Qualitative Descriptive Analysis program O’Neill works closely with Morris and the Brown-Forman and Woodford Reserve Distillery teams, profiling products, doing presentations, educational seminars and basically, “showing the whole story behind the brand.”
“Elizabeth brings an unbelievable level of enthusiasm and passion for the Old Forester and Woodford Reserve brands to work every day,” says Morris. “She is eager to not only listen, observe and learn but will also jump right into a project and lend a hand where needed. She reminds me of myself at that stage of my career.”
With Morris, O’Neill helped develop Woodford Reserve Double Double Oaked and Woodford Reserve Sweet Mash Redux.
“I love the development side and seeing how we put a product together,” O’Neill says. “My favorite moment was when we took a product that we talked about for months–our Double Double Oaked and tasted the samples for the first time. Then we we shared them with the consumer.”
Bourbon in Her Genes
Working in with spirits wasn’t a surprise for O’Neill, who is the second-generation of her family to work in the bourbon industry. Her mother was a sensory expert for the Seagram’s Distillery Co. and encouraged her to work at Brown-Forman.
Times were different for women in the early 1980s. “When my mom worked at Seagram’s in their production quality lab it was a male-dominated environment,” says O’Neill. “There are lots of women in our group at Brown-Forman. It’s when you leave that environment to do seminars or presentations that I notice the room is often dominated by men. My mom always told me not to let that discourage me.”
In fact, O’Neill tries to dispel misconceptions about women not drinking bourbon. “I feel like it is my duty to spread the love that bourbon is not only for men,” she says.
O’Neill’s position lends herself the ability to travel the world and represent both Louisville and the spirits industry. “Spirits are such an important component to economic development here in Louisville. I’m proud to contribute to this,” she says.
Helping Through Horses
As much as she enjoys her job, O’Neill she is not a workaholic. She makes time for her other passions: horses, community service and sometimes a combination of the two. O’Neill is a member of the Younger Women’s Club of Louisville as well as Secretary and Board Member of Green Hill Therapy (1410 Long Run Road). Green Hill Therapy is a nonprofit organization, which integrates occupational, physical and speech therapy with hippotherapy and aquatherapy, for special needs children or children with developmental delays.
“We were looking for a young, up and coming, executive that would contribute energy, ideas and effort to Green Hill. We found all those qualities in Elizabeth,” says G. Henry Hunt, Board President of the Green Hill Therapy Board and COO, Dataseam. “Elizabeth brings enthusiasm for the kids, horses and work we do at Green Hill. In her short time with the board, she has been elected to a leadership position and continues to look for new ways to raise our profile the Louisville.”
Lee Ann Weinberg, Executive Director, Green Hill Therapy, describes O’Neill as enthusiastic, confident and eager to help out. “Elizabeth brings passion and enthusiasm to our organization and is always trying to see how she can help support our mission in ways big and small. She organized a fundraiser at Brown Forman for Green Hill, she solicited items for our silent auction from friends near and far, and she even gave a private, personal tour of Woodford to be auctioned off at the Hoe Down on the Hill,” she says.
Giving back to the community is important to O’Neill. “I can’t think of a reason why you wouldn’t give back,” she says. “I saw a 2-year-old child with cerebral palsy who couldn’t sit up, but because Green Hill Therapy, could walk into our office two months ago. I get to be a small part of that.”
Her work with Green Hill Therapy is a natural fit for this self-described “horse person.” Since she was eight year old, O’Neill has rode horses. She was a competition three-day eventing rider where she competed across the three disciplines of dressage (where horse and rider are expected to perform from memory a series of predetermined movements), cross-country and show jumping. Her horse, Cody Ko, is an 11-year-old retired thoroughbred. “It’s the longest relationship I’ve ever been in,” she jokes.
Childhood friend Cathy Shircliff, Managing Partner, Shircliff Publishing, isn’t surprised by O’Neill’s focus and determination. Shircliff met O’Neill during Sunday school and has watched her grow into an adult and her position at Brown-Forman.
“I’m most impressed by her ability to juggle all the balls she has in the air,” says Shircliff. “She works in the lab, is a Master Taster, Board Member of Green Hill Therapy, works out every day, finds time to ride and is still one of the best friends a girl could have.”
Her endurance, shows no signs of slowing down. If anything, O’Neill wants to take on more, which is a good thing since her boyfriend, Matt McCall recently proposed. While O’Neill begins planning their wedding it’s a safe bet that this couple will toast to holy matrimony with bourbon.
