Salem grad makes local history

By: 
Kate Wehlann

Alan Bishop, a member of the historical society and a master distiller featured Hoskins on his blog, The Alchemist Cabinet. That's how she found out she was the first female distiller from this county.

A 2013 Salem High School graduate has made local history. Lexus Hoskins is the first official, legal female distiller from Washington County and the only female distiller at Rabbit Hole Distillery.

Rabbit Hole Distillery was established in 2012 and is comparatively new to the boubon game. It’s a small operation and Hoskins said she really liked the family-oriented atmosphere. She was hired initially as a tour guide. That lasted just one month. When the company was filling a distilling position, Hoskins was encouraged to apply. She did and was hired for that role.

“I’d been in the bourbon industry for two years, while in college, I had experience in chemistry, and even in theater, I had basic carpentry skills,” she said. “I was hired on my birthday. September 24, I started my journey of a distiller.”

“I plan to meet a lot of female distillers on my journey, but for such a long time, it was always male-driven, just like a lot of industries,” said Hoskins. “I don’t know when it all started [with women jumping into the business], but I’m sure it’s been within the last 20 years or so.”
Being the first woman from Washington County is still something she’s working on wrapping her mind around.

“I had no clue there was a history of distillers in Washington County,” she said. “Heck, I thought about Salem High School — which gave me an excellent education and I had a 4.0 GPA — but I hated history … I didn’t really have an interest in history until I got into college and I really started to learn about where I came from and Louisville. I think distiller’s history should be taught. It’s a huge industry and it’s getting bigger … I think it’s amazing.”

Read much more about Hoskins and her journey in this week's Salem Leader.

 

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