Eboni Major, the first Black female whiskey blender who is suing Diageo for discrimination, has released a new whiskey with Alabama distillery Dread River. (Photo: Dread River Distilling Co.)

Eboni Major, the first Black female whiskey blender, is back with a new whiskey, her first since departing Bulleit after launching a discrimination lawsuit against the brand and its parent company, Diageo.

About Dread River Master Series By Eboni Major

Major’s new whiskey, Dread River Master Series, comes from Birmingham, Alabama’s Dread River Distilling Company.

Bottled at 100 proof, the new Dread River Master Series release is a blend of Kentucky bourbon distilled in October 2017 and January 2019.

According to Robb Report, Major’s introduction to Dread River came via its previous master distiller, whom she met at a judging competition last spring.

“Dread River is located two blocks from where my grandmother lived her entire life,” Major told Robb Report. “Besides that, I’d known this building my entire childhood—passing it every time I visited her. So it felt like it was meant to be… I had no idea what liquid I’d use initially. I was set on a rye at first, because I love rye. That didn’t work out, so I searched and searched I then found a handful barrels of Kentucky bourbon. The barrels I selected were distilled and aged in October 2017 and January 2019, and dumped in December 2022. This unique blend of three lots across six barrels yielded 1,500 bottles of Kentucky straight bourbon.”

Dread River Master Series by Eboni Major is available now for preorder from the Dread River website, priced at $114.99 per 750-milliliter bottle.

In November, Marianne Eaves, Kentucky’s first female master distiller, announced that she had brought Major on as creative director for the second release of EAVES BLIND, her blind-whiskey-tasting subscription service.

Eboni Major’s Lawsuit Against Diageo

Major launched the discrimination lawsuit against Diageo in April. In the lawsuit, Major alleged that she suffered “severe and pervasive discrimination,” including being treated worse than white women in terms of compensation and expectation, having her work credited to white employees and not being given the same recognition as the work of white employees.

Last month, Imbibe Magazine reported that the lawsuit was dismissed and the dispute has been moved to arbitration.

For a more detailed look at the discrimination lawsuit, click here.

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