MGP has been a whiskey powerhouse behind the scenes, but the time has come to step out in front with a whiskey brand of its own.
After decades sourcing whiskey for other brands, MGP is putting its own name on a bottle. The Lawrenceburg, Indiana distillery announced the launch of MGP Chapter One: Out of the Shadows, the first whiskey released under the MGP name. It's a notable move for a company whose whiskey has long been a fixture of non-distiller producers (NDPs) and which already owns a sizable spirits portfolio that includes Penelope, George Remus, and others.
MGP Chapter One: Out of the Shadows
MGP Chapter One: Out of the Shadows is a limited-edition 10-year-old straight bourbon bottled at 111 proof. Master Distiller Ian Stirsman selected and blended barrels made from MGP's historic LBSV recipe, a particularly rye-heavy bourbon mash bill consisting of 60% corn, 36% rye and 4% malted barley.
The barrels spent a full decade aging in Rickhouse G, one of the distillery's most famed warehouses. Official tasting notes include butterscotch, burnt sugar, molasses and cherry on the nose, followed by cherry cola, raspberry, dark chocolate, sassafras and leather.
"For MGP Chapter One: Out of the Shadows, we went into some of our exceptional barrels and made a whiskey that really represents what makes our distillery unique," Stirsman said in a company press release. Chapter One will be available this fall with a suggested retail price of $69.99 for a 750ml bottle.
The historic Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
A Brief History Of MGP
The Lawrenceburg distillery's history stretches back to 1847, when George Ross established Rossville Distillery along the Ohio River. W.P. Squibb & Co. opened nearby in 1869, while George Remus—the Cincinnati bootlegger whose name now appears on one of MGP's bourbon brands—acquired the Squibb operation during Prohibition.
The modern foundation of the distillery came after Repeal, when Seagram purchased Rossville in 1933. Seagram operated in Lawrenceburg for decades and left an imprint that remains today: MGP says it continues to use Seagram-designed stills, yeast and rickhouses at the facility.
Following the breakup of Seagram, the distillery changed hands and eventually became Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana, better known as LDI. MGP Ingredients purchased the historic Lawrenceburg distillery in 2011. A decade later, MGP acquired Luxco, significantly expanding its own branded spirits business with a portfolio that today includes Penelope, George Remus, Rebel, Yellowstone, Blood Oath and other brands.
A collection of releases from Remus Bourbon.
MGP's History Of Sourcing
For whiskey drinkers, however, the Lawrenceburg distillery may be best known for all the names that aren't MGP. In the early 2000s, the distillery became a cornerstone of the sourced-whiskey business, supplying mature bourbon and rye to NDPs, as well as contract-distilled whiskey to producers ranging from small startups to major spirits companies, including Bulleit, Templeton Whiskey, and George Dickel.
While NDPs often weren't eager to advertise where their whiskey came from, enthusiasts learned to look for clues like "Distilled in Indiana" on the label and, in the case of rye, the distinctive 95% rye and 5% malted barley mash bill. As consumers became more knowledgeable about sourced whiskey, MGP's Lawrenceburg provenance increasingly became a selling point of its own, helping push the industry toward greater transparency.
Smooth Ambler's Old Scout line, Backbone, Hooten Young, Old Soul, High West, and O.K.I.and have all utilized whiskey distilled at MGP. The exact relationship varies by brand and release—some bottle MGP whiskey, while others use it as one component of a larger blend—but collectively they demonstrate just how deeply Lawrenceburg whiskey is woven into the modern American whiskey landscape.
Images courtesy of MGP Ingredients.
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