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HOLLIS B: Whiskey ICON 

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Hollis has been dubbed "The First Lady of Bourbon", "Bette Middler of Bourbon", & "The Whiskey Unicorn" 

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As co-creater of Bulleit whiskey, Hollis was with the company since day one, Her participation was integral, critical, and pivotal in the creation of one of the liquor industry's most successful brands in the 21st century. The Bulleit brand was built on her passion for innovation and raising bourbon to a higher art form and transforming its "good ol' boy" culture to one that was all inclusive.

 

Without ready access to art the Sunday New York Times served as her local MOMA. She used to collect the full page ads and display the Absolut™ ads on her walls. Hollis pitched the idea of a bourbon that was "as cool and innovative as the Absolut™ vodka campaign. When her father began discussing bourbon as a career change he liked the generic name "Thoroughbred Kentucky Bourbon." She urged him to use their last name instead.

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Later, she graduated with a BA from Smith College with an Art major and Women Studies minor and later obtained an MA from New York University. While at college, Hollis continued to consult on the Bulleit brand, and after graduation she was the first and only employee of the Bulleit Distilling Company prior to it being acquired by Seagrams.

 

To prepare herself for educational whiskey tutorials she trained with the Masters of Whiskey and received the same degrees as those in that elite sales and educational work force. As one of only two Bulleit family members ever hired directly by Diageo North Americas, she helped change the face of bourbon to be more inclusive of women and LGBTQ2IA+. Hollis did this through sourcing, creating, running and participating in several mixology and women's groups and events. Her involvement went beyond "brand ambassador" duties; she was integral in many facets of the Bulleit Rye. She worked with several teams: innovation, design, marketing, and tasting. Her most publicly noticeable input was on the color scheme and the additive "circle 95" of the current Bulleit Rye label. In 2016, Hollis B Worth stopped representing Bulleit/ Diageo. 

 

Throughout Hollis' life she has designed, and produced swag campaigns - known for hand painted bottles, linocuts, quirky embellished hats, buttons, and jewelry. She helped entice established artists to work with the brand on projects that spawned the likes of "frontier works". Hollis' personal presentation and style brought pizzaz and joy to liquor events nationally. As her spouse, Cher, likes to say, "Hollis is an experience not an instagram." 

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