The inaugural Demeter Collection, the OurWhisky Foundation’s fundraising auction held in partnership with Whisky Auctioneer, has raised a total of nearly £50,000.

Mhairi Winters and Lizzie Haw work at opposite ends of the whisky spectrum. As distillery manager of The Cairn, Winters is focused on new make spirit, while spirit quality manager Haw works with mature, and often extremely old, whisky. Now the pair have combined their skills and palates to create a one-off bottling for the Demeter Collection.

Janet Sheed Roberts was the William Grant & Sons matriarch who became Scotland’s oldest person at the age of 110. Now, her descendant Kirsten Grant Meikle and blender Eilidh Muir are honouring her legacy through a unique whisky created for the House of Hazelwood.

As the newly-appointed managing director of Douglas Laing & Co., Cara Laing is carrying a lot. Aside from ensuring the future success of her family's company and launching a new single malt brand, there’s also the inherent responsibility that comes with being one of the few female leaders of a Scotch whisky business.

Brand innovation manager for The Artisanal Spirits Company, Julie Roberts came to the whisky industry through a love of communication. She wants to change perceptions of women working in whisky and help people know more about the power of the female palate.

When Annabel Thomas founded Nc’nean distillery in 2013, fundraising was an uphill battle – investors just didn’t care about sustainability. Now she owns the UK’s first net-zero whisky distillery and is setting the bar for the industry to follow. In her mind, giving up just wasn’t an option.

She’s the most accomplished whisky maker you’ve probably never heard of, the hidden nose behind The Dalmore’s success. Now, after 50 years in the industry, most spent as the right-hand woman of master blender Richard Paterson, Margaret Nicol finally has her name on a bottle.

With qualifications in sports science and interior design, Claire Vaughan, co-founder of Derbyshire’s White Peak Distillery, never thought she’d end up in whisky. But her skill set has been key to the success of the Wire Works whisky brand.

Dr. Rachel Barrie has spent over 30 years in the whisky industry, winning numerous awards and accolades, but only now feels like she’s 'arrived'. Grateful for the opportunities she's been given, Brown-Forman's master blender now wants to empty her cup.

Abbie Jaume discovered her love of whisky in Tasmania, but for the scientist turned distiller, founding a distillery back in England hasn’t protect her from experiencing sexism. It’s partly why she’s donating the first whisky she ever made to the Demeter Collection.

Regarded as the ‘first lady of Scotch’, Bessie Williamson was so much more than one of Scotland’s first female distillery managers. From safeguarding Laphroaig during the war to exhibiting philanthropic kindness and even saving her warehouseman’s life, Williamson left an indelible mark on both whisky and the world.

From a career in quality engineering to running what could be the world’s first hydrogen-powered distillery, Arbikie manager and master distiller Kirsty Black wants women to know they’re not alone in whisky.

As two of the only female Irish whiskey business owners, the J.J. Corry and Tipperary distillery founders have joined forces to make history with a new limited edition release that has the capacity to change the category forever.

Now director of blending, Scotch whisky, at Bacardi, Stephanie Macleod had never considered the whisky industry as a viable place to work. Why? Because she never saw the women who worked in it. Twenty-six years later and she’s one of its greatest advocates.

Counting the likes of Rachel Barrie, Stephanie Macleod, Ron Welsh and Sandy Hyslop among her mentors, Loch Lomond blender Ashley Smith is one of Scotland’s most exciting whisky makers.

Sarah Burgess has been making whisky for some of the biggest names in Scotland and England for two decades. Now, she’s ready to give back. She tells Becky Paskin why we need to shine a light on others, and how creating a unique whisky for the Demeter Collection is a career highlight.

She may be the UK’s youngest distillery manager but the Cotswolds’ Alice Pearson is confidently forging her own path, defying stereotypes of what it means to be a woman in whisky and proving age is nothing but a number.

At The Borders Distillery, women run the majority of operations. Team lead Caitlin Heard explains why female representation is so important and her excitement at seeing The Borders’ first quarter cask in the Demeter Collection auction.

Twenty years after joining the whisky industry under the tutelage of the legendary Jim Swan, Glenmorangie and Ardbeg master blender Gillian Macdonald reflects on how her career can be boiled down to a ‘sliding doors moment’.

The OurWhisky Foundation has partnered with Whisky Auctioneer to launch the Demeter Collection, the world’s first auction dedicated to women in whisky.