MGP Distillery
The MGP of Indiana , former Seagram's Distillery is a distillery for whiskey ( bourbon whiskey , corn whiskey , Wheat Whiskey , Rye Whiskey ), rum , gin and industrial alcohol in Lawrenceburg , Indiana that the food manufacturer MGP Ingredients heard. The distillery does not sell the whiskey under its own label , but delivers whiskey to other companies that bottle it and sell it or process and bottle it under their own name. MGP's products serve as the raw material for many blended whiskeys , are sold as premium brands and also end up in many "craft" whiskeys from smaller companies.
history
The distillery was founded in 1847 as the Rossville Distillery. Seagram took over the company in 1933 after the end of Prohibition . Until 2011, the Rossville Distillery belonged to the Seagram beverage company . After Seagram was dissolved, the work fell to Pernod-Ricard , who sold it to Angostura . After Angostura's owner CL Financial was threatened in its existence by the financial crisis in 2008, they tried to sell the plant. In 2011, MGP Ingredients, a company primarily producing raw materials for the food industry, took over the company for $ 15 million, but continued on the path of not making its own whiskey.
Products
MGP has had eleven different standard whiskey recipes since 2013. MGP sells its whiskey to other companies who then process it. Either they process it into blended whiskey, let it ripen in their own barrels or dilute it from barrel (62 vol .-% alcohol) to drinking volume (around 40-45 vol .-% alcohol) and sell it under their own name. Some manufacturers write MGP or Lawrenceburg, Indiana on their bottles, others don't. Many of the whiskeys bought in Indiana and bottled elsewhere are intensively marketing with their local origins from, for example, Colorado (Tin Cup), New York City (Widow Jane) or Iowa (Templeton).
"Craft" whiskeys from Indiana
Caused by the success of the single malts and the craft beer / microbreweries , a large scene of microdistilleries and "craft" whiskey has emerged in the USA since 2000. In contrast to beer brewing, whiskey distillation is comparatively complex. The initial investment in a distillery can easily be several million dollars. Due to the storage time of several years, it also takes several years until the first income is generated and until the distiller knows for sure whether his whiskey is good and meets the public's taste. Many of the small sellers therefore buy whiskey. While it is possible to get unlabeled whiskey in bulk, including from some of the larger Kentucky distilleries, they often keep the best whiskey for their own products. MGP does not manufacture its own products and is therefore particularly suitable as a supplier for premium brands. The "Craft" distillers bottle the whiskey under their own name - many of them do not mark this on the bottle. However, a clear identification mark is when the whiskey has matured longer than the manufacturer actually exists, according to the label.
Whiskeys that come from Lawrenceburg include Rye Whiskey by George Dickel , Bulleit ( Diageo ), Widow Jane (Cacao Prieto), Tin Cup (Proximo Spirits) and Templeton (Young Markets Company). Other brands whose whiskey is distilled in Indiana and then bottled elsewhere include Copper City, Arizona, Filibuster (Washington, DC), Smugglers' Notch (Vermont), and Hooker's House (California).
Remarks
- ↑ a b Chuck Cowdery : MGP of Indiana May Be Sold ... Again , The Chuck Cowdery Blog June 28, 2013
- ↑ Chuck Cowdery: MGP Launches First Brand: Metze's Medley , Chuck Cowdery Blog November 6, 2014
- ↑ a b Mark Felten: Your 'Craft' Rye Whiskey Is Probably From a Factory Distillery in Indiana , The Daily Beast July 28, 2014
- ↑ Chuck Cowdery: Death by List , The Chuck Cowdery Blog, September 3, 2014
- ↑ Chuck Cowdery: After Templeton, Who's Next? How About Tin Cup? , The Chuck Cowdery Blog September 2, 2014
- ↑ Chuck Cowdery: Templeton Chairman Tells Des Moines Register, "The Whiskey Is Not the Most Important Thing," The Chuck Cowdery Blog, August 29, 2014