MGP of Indiana

MGP of Indiana (where MGP is an abbreviation for Midwest Grain Products[1]) is a distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.[2] The distillery was founded in 1847 and currently produces a range of distilled beverages.[3] The facility's master distiller is Greg Metze.[4][2]

Products

MGP Indiana does not sell any of its products directly – they instead sell their products to various bottlers. One primary product of MGP Indiana is a straight rye whiskey with a 95% rye mash bill, which is bottled under various brand names, including Bulleit Rye, Templeton Rye, Filibuster, High West, James E. Pepper, Redemption, and Smooth Ambler.[5] George Dickel Rye, introduced in 2012, is also mashed, distilled and aged in Indiana at MGP, and then trucked to the Diageo bottling plant in Plainfield, Illinois for filtering and bottling.[5][6][7] It also produces straight Bourbon whiskey, which is sold as Cougar Bourbon in Australia. These straight whiskeys are also used as the straight whiskey components in Seagram's Seven Crown, a blended whiskey now produced by Diageo.

The distillery also produces neutral spirits used in the production of Seagram-branded gin and vodka, now owned by Pernod Ricard.

In April 2013, MGP announced the introduction six additional mash bills for rye, malt, wheat and bourbon whiskey to expand the range of product offerings for the Indiana facility.[4][2]

History

The distillery was purchased by Seagram in 1933.[8] While under their ownership, the distillery was called the Jos. E. Seagram Lawrenceburg Plant. When Seagram went out of business, its assets were acquired by other companies, and the Lawrenceburg distillery became the property of Pernod Ricard.

On April 19, 2006, Pernod Ricard announced that they would be closing the distillery. However, it was instead sold in 2007 to CL Financial, a holding company based in Trinidad and Tobago, which renamed it "Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana" (LDI). CL Financial later collapsed and required government intervention, although the facility continued to operate through the company crisis.

In October 2011, MGP Ingredients announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase the distillery, giving it its present name.[9] As of 2012, Diageo is the distillery's biggest customer.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Ellis (2014-03-25). "Chattanooga Whiskey distillery opening delayed until 2015". Chattanooga Times Free-Press.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Charles A. Cowdery, MGP Adds Six New Whiskey Recipes to Lawrenceburg Distillery's Portfolio, The Chuck Cowdery Blog, April 3, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Company Overview of Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana, LLC". Businessweek. Bloomberg. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "MGP Expanding Whiskey and Bourbon Offerings with Addition of New Mash Bills". April 2, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Charles A. Cowdery, George Dickel Gives a Different Taste to LDI Rye, The Chuck Cowdery Blog, October 26, 2012.
  6. ↑ Larry Olmstead, A Brand New Rye Whiskey That Will Turn Heads, Forbes, 25 October 2012.
  7. ↑ Kevin Gray, George Dickel Rye Whisky Review, October 19, 2012.
  8. ↑ Federal Writers' Project (1941). Indiana: A Guide to the Hoosier State. USA: The Department of Public Ralations of Indiana State Teachers College. p. 364.
  9. ↑ MGP Ingredients Inc. to Purchase Lawrenceburg, Indiana Distillery Assets, company press release, Oct. 21, 2011.

Coordinates: 39°5′56″N 84°51′40″W / 39.09889°N 84.86111°W