The Woman Behind the Whiskey: Meet Jefferson’s Bourbon’s Master Blender Ale Ochoa

By Alisha Proffitt Photos by Matt Johnson 

Since its founding in 1997 by Trey Zoeller and his father Chet (together carrying forward an eighth‑generation family whiskey tradition) Jefferson’s Bourbon has remained a proud innovator in the whiskey world. Inspired by both tradition and experimentation, the brand has become known for unique aging methods: bourbon aged at sea, wine‑finished barrels, and rum-finished whiskies. It is within this culture of exploration that Ale Ochoa has emerged as Master Blender, blending (pun intended) science with a passion for whiskey. 

From the beginning, Ale was drawn to the whiskey business. “I loved food science. They would have ice cream, meat and coffee, and all these really cool industries and some of our favorite comfort foods come talk to us about careers you can have, but none of them really stuck out to me like whiskey did,” she says of her time in college. Her undergraduate years in a sensory science and flavor chemistry lab is where her story began. Working as a student assistant, she learned how people perceive flavors and aromas, perfecting her nose and palate. 

Continuing into graduate school, Ale remained in the sensory realm and entered a program that led to coffee analysis. Still, in the back of her mind, bourbon beckoned. An encounter with then TX Whiskey Master Distiller, Rob Arnold, proved fateful. Collaborating on research, their joint master’s‑and‑PhD project focused on analyzing how different corn varieties influence distillate flavor: an early example of Ale applying scientific analysis to whiskey. That collaboration led to a position with the distillery in Fort Worth and provided foundational experience for her future. 

At Jefferson’s, Ale lives up to the company’s “breaking boundaries” tradition. In her role as Master Blender, though, she remains humble. “It’s not one person doing everything on their own,” she explains. “Our farmer has to do a great job, our distillers have to do a great job, our coopers have to do a great job. So, it’s all of them doing a phenomenal job that lets me do a great job.” 

What exactly does Ale do day to day? The answer covers every step of the whiskey lifecycle. She works with the distilling team on mash bills, selects barrel regimens to shape flavor profiles, monitors maturation, orchestrates blending, conducts sensory training, and collaborates with marketing, finance, warehousing, and consumer relations. Every element feeds the final pour. Ale particularly loves seeing the joy it brings consumers and the memories they get to create with it. 

A glimpse of a typical day for Ale: she spends hours smelling and tasting, evaluating single barrels and maturing stocks, sampling aged recipes before and after bottling. In a lab setting, she blends, maintains, and optimizes recipes. It’s detailed, sensory‑heavy work, but passionately so. It’s a fun job, and one Ale takes a lot of pride in. 

Even on tough days, Ale finds joy in the community. “Even on a bad day, it’s still a great day,” she says. She cherishes being part of a team that supports her. Though bourbon has historically been male‑dominated, Jefferson’s culture stands apart. Her colleagues encouraged her from the start. “It was always them advocating for me. ‘Be louder, speak up more, you’re here because we want your opinion’,” she recalls. But she hasn’t forgotten the women who paved the way. “We couldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for those women opening those doors in the first place.” 

Her palate is her super power, and understanding sensory science is almost like learning a second language. Through many blind tastings and descriptive analysis training, she’s developed an uncanny sensory awareness. “Once it’s there, even if it’s latent, it’s always there.” That ability helps guide Jefferson’s wood‑experimentation initiatives (whether ocean‑aged, wine‑finished, or rum-finished bourbons) ensuring that experimental processes remain anchored by consistent, high quality taste. 

As Master Blender, Ale sees part of her role as mentoring a new generation of whiskey‑makers. “I did not get here alone, and I’ve had a lot of help from a lot of people. I think it’s our responsibility to keep passing on that help, making paths for people.” She views the bourbon world not just as an industry but as a community. “There’s a community in bourbon and we always want to make sure that community continues to grow,” she says. 

Her openness, gratitude, and respect for process mirror Jefferson’s brand identity: curious, collaborative, and honoring tradition while pushing for new territory. Trey Zoeller’s intention to grow the category into uncharted waters (quite literally) and Ale’s dedication to her science and craft, both are perfect examples of how and why Jefferson’s remains one of the most innovative brands on the shelves. 

Jefferson’s Bourbon is known for exploration, but Ale is a part of the human center of that exploration. Her work reminds us that while whiskey is delicious, it’s the people, culture, community and the art and science that is the secret ingredient.