Jackson McCrea

Jackson McCrea is a premium rye whiskey brand co-founded by Sheila Jackson and Natasha McCrea. The product is a five-year-old Tennessee rye that is transported to California wine country for secondary maturation in French oak Syrah barrels, a double-cask, non-chill-filtered finish that the company describes as producing notes of toasted caramel, vanilla, smoke and warm spice. The flagship expression is sold in 750 ml bottles at 45% ABV with a suggested retail price of $78.

The brand was built explicitly around women whiskey consumers. Before formulating the blend, the founders ran a "Women & Whiskey Survey" as customer discovery and used the resulting flavor preferences to shape the liquid. Bottle design is described as inspired by California sunsets. Beyond the product, the company runs community programming including a quarterly Founders Salon for women founders and the JM 100 initiative, a collective of women leaders focused on wellness and self-care, whose inaugural retreat was held in Santa Monica, California. Press coverage identifies Jackson and McCrea as the first Black women to own a whiskey brand in California.

Sheila Jackson, Founder and CEO, is from Tennessee and spent more than thirty years in California; her background includes work as a marriage and family therapist, writer and producer, and she is a certified wine educator. Co-founder Natasha McCrea was born and raised in Northern California, has roughly two decades in the entertainment industry as an actor, director and producer, and founded the Love CEO Institute, a personal development company for women.

Founding story

The brand originated in a conversation between Sheila Jackson and Natasha McCrea, friends of four years from the entertainment industry who bonded over wine and discovered a shared preference for Old Fashioneds at a late dinner celebrating McCrea's one-woman show. They observed that women were significant whiskey consumers but were rarely addressed by whiskey marketing, and decided to build a rye designed around women's palates. Jackson contributed Tennessee whiskey roots and McCrea Northern California wine country roots, which together shaped the sourcing and finishing approach.

Business model

The company sources aged Tennessee rye rather than distilling it, finishes the whiskey in French oak Syrah barrels in California, and sells bottled product through retail and on-premise accounts plus direct e-commerce shipping.

Bottle sales of a single premium rye expression (750 ml, 45% ABV) at a suggested retail price of $78, through California retail and restaurant accounts and direct-to-consumer e-commerce.

Traction

Retail presence of 43 California locations with Total Wine approval and e-commerce reach across 46 states as of March 2025; awards include a Gold Medal from Fifty Best Rye and silver medals from the Bartender Spirits Awards and the New York International Spirits Competition. The founders also cite participation in Techstars and Distill Ventures programs.

Latest developments

In March 2025 the company launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on WeFunder aimed at women and allies, framing investors as brand ambassadors. The company's site indicates online ordering is paused with a notification waitlist and that a Tennessee launch is coming.