Melissa Heim can list a few reasons why Big Nose Kate, a whiskey brand named after an unsung historical female figure, offers something unique for the backbar.
“Jack, Jim, Johnnie is the backbar you get on-repeat everywhere, and it goes further,” she said. “There’s Elijah, Ezra, Tito, Dom, uncle, grandad, cousin and brother.”
Today Heim takes another step towards changing that male-heavy brand roster as she shifts from head of operations and product into her new title as CEO, a move cementing her as the face of the company in the midst of its second capital raise.
Heim is joined on her team by co-founders Kevin Burke, who previously worked at Beam Suntory and Coca-Cola and is also co-founder of Dottie May’s Oatmilk Cream Liqueur, as well as brand developer Paul Earle. Founded in 2021, the brand was backed early on by Springdale Ventures, Spirits Investment Partners and Goat Rodeo Capital, and later by comedic duo Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone. The liquid comes via a distillery co-op partnership with Above So Below in Santa Fe, where master distiller Caley Shoemaker independently operates her distillery and spirit portfolio.
After 16 years as a distiller, Big Nose Kate is the first brand Heim has owned. She got her start in Portland’s craft brewing scene, and is now considered by many to be one of the first ever female head distillers and blenders west of the Mississippi, and also one of the youngest. Her last stint was as executive vice president of Eastside Distilling, the first craft distillery to go public. Big Nose Kate was presented to her during the pandemic, and as part of a pioneering generation of female distillers, she related to its namesake.
Most well-known as the partner in crime of Old West gambler and gunfighter Doc Holliday, Maria Izabella Magdolna Horony, later known as Big Nose Kate, was a Hungarian aristocrat’s daughter drawn to the wild American west. While Big Nose Kate was an industrious and independent self-made woman generations ahead of her time, her story was often overshadowed by the outlaw men in her lives, according to Heim.
“Tombstone did such a good job of just making her an arm piece,” said Heim. “There’s a lot to her that’s relatable to everyone regardless of gender: she’s an immigrant, an orphan, an entrepreneur, she’s curious, and a take-no-shit type of person.”
But only a new company could take on the legacy of a woman like Big Nose Kate and not wash out her complexity, Heim argues.
“Big brands have inauthentically tried to jam women into their storylines and timelines, and they just lack the credibility to do it,” she said. “We have an opportunity to not pander gender, we can create a little change because most change stems from the ground floor anyway.”
Women’s consumption of whiskey lags compared to vodka, tequila and RTDs, according to the IWSR, presenting an opportunity that major brands have often tried to take advantage of with mixed results. Last year Pernod Ricard released Mary Dowling Whiskey Co, named after a successful female distiller in the male-dominated world of pre-prohibition bourbon, positioning the brand as a tribute to an individual whose accomplishments have been under-recognized. But production is helmed by a male distiller, ironically underscoring the rising availability of spirits or whiskeys owned or distilled by women, who still experience the challenges of not receiving equitable treatment and access to resources as men in the industry.
Big Nose Kate aims to offer a counterpoint to the bourbon boom as well, focusing on an “agricultural-conscious” mashbill, intentionally diversifying beyond corn to blend whiskies made with malt and rye. Heim is confident the growing interest in American single malt and Scotch will bring more consumers into blended whiskeys. Major spirits companies have doubled down on regional styles of American whiskey lately, leveraging acquisitions to further their premiumization efforts. Blended whiskey and American whiskey were some of the fastest growing spirits categories by revenue in 2023, up by 4.1% to $978 million and 3.8% to $5.3 billion respectively, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.
Production in New Mexico, an important station in Big Nose Kate’s life, and specifically using a co-op model versus tying up capital in space and equipment, has been part of the brand’s nimble approach. Instead, the team has used its $2 million seed round raised in 2020 to focus on getting the liquid out to market. The company’s “winning the west theory” means first saturating the on-premise in regional markets (Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona and New Mexico), and once demand is built up with local consumers, approaching retailers, putting the sale “on a platter” for distributor Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, said Heim. Colorado and Nevada are next. That process has been spearheaded by a Pacific Northwest manager, a state manager in Arizona and Burke who oversees sales and distribution.
“We’ve been able to open the activation of these chains because we’ve made sure there is a community for it,” Heim said.
While grateful for the support from one of Hollywood’s funniest couples, the team has intentionally not relied on positioning itself as a celebrity brand. The model of celebrity brands is capital heavy, added Heim, and they’ve opted instead to use investor money on direct ROI.
“We’re not out here putting Melissa McCarthy on a 30-city tour at every Total Wine & More, because do you know if your customers are there, or did they just show up for McCarthy?” she asked.
The whiskey often pops up in McCarthy’s Instagram videos, but the internal joke is that Big Nose Kate’s celebrity partners are “the fifth or sixth most interesting part of the brand,” a cheeky reference to a philosophy that Heim says will build more value for the brand in the long run.
Which brings Heim to her current task as CEO: raising a bridge round that’s directly related to getting salespeople in place to increase velocity. The shift to CEO was a natural transition as the company embarks on an expansion and refines its strategic vision to present to investors.
“We get to a certain size with business and you no longer have the luxury of being a flat hierarchy,” she said. “We’ve very much enjoyed sharing all the hats that we’ve all been wearing for the past two years to get this thing off the ground.”