In 2016 MGP pivoted toward the creation and acquisition of its own whiskey labels. The move was slow at first, but MGP struck gold in early 2021 with the $475 million acquisition of Luxco. Last year, it made another key acquisition with the purchase of Penelope Bourbon. Both moves added to a healthy and growing list of brands that accounted for nearly $254 million in sales last year. This week MGP announced two new releases: a second batch of Penelope Rio and a new 6 year old wheated bourbon from Rebel on the way.
Penelope Rio Bourbon 2024
The first batch of Rio holds a somewhat interesting place in Penelope Bourbon’s history. Unlike many of MGP’s other high-profile brands, the ever-popular Penelope wasn’t brought over as part of the 2021 Luxco sale. It’s one of the newer faces in the MGP lineup, only having been a part of the group for under a year. Rio was the first Penelope bourbon to be released after its acquisition, with its announcement coming just a few weeks after the news of the sale hit the airwaves.
At the time Rio was the newest Penelope’s Cooper Series, which centers on cask finishing. Unlike its siblings, which featured finishes in wine casks from Europe, Rio took its cues from both America and Brazil. The release saw the label’s 4-grain bourbon (75% corn, 15% wheat, 7% rye, and 3% malted barley) undergo a dual-cask finish in American honey barrels and barrels made from amburana, a type of oak native to South America. The release was a resounding success, scoring 92 points with our tasting panel—then the highest score awarded to a Penelope bottling.
The second Rio installation largely sticks to that same script: most things, from the 49% ABV to the double cask-finish, are identical. The latest batch does have a new mashbill, with slightly more wheat (raised to 16%) and less corn (lowered to 74%). Batch 2 accounts for roughly 30,000 bottles that will be available nationwide this month for $90. We’re looking forward to trying the new batch; if the first Rio is anything to go off, this one could be worth watching.
Rebel 100 6 year old bourbon
Rebel bourbon is actually older than both Luxco and MGP. The bourbon’s recipe is claimed to date back to 1849, during the early days of pioneer William Larue Weller using wheat in his mashbills. The brand itself wouldn’t be founded until the 1930s, as a part of a collaboration between the legendary Stitzel-Weller Distillery and Louisville-based politician Charles R. Farnsley which was known as Rebel Yell.
Though popular in its own right over the years—at least well-known enough to inspire a hit Billy Idol song of the same name—Rebel Yell never really garnered the same mythical status as its Stitzel-Weller wheated brethren like W. L. Weller, Old Fitzgerald, or Pappy Van Winkle. Following Stitzel-Weller’s closure, the label changed hands several times before finding a home at David Sherman Corp, which was rechristened as Luxco in 2006. The bourbon would undergo a rebrand of its own about a year before MGP took over, shortened to the “Rebel” name we see on labels now.
The newest release is a 6 year old wheated bourbon, which will look familiar to many longtime fans of Rebel. It was made using the original 1849 mashbill—68% corn, 20% wheat, 12% malted barley—which is the label’s house wheater recipe. It’s also proofed to 50% ABV, which is typical for Rebel’s recent releases. The new bottle’s age statement is the defining characteristic: it sits somewhere between the label’s flagship, which is aged for at least 2 years, and the label’s single barrel offerings which are billed as 10 years old.
Rebel 100 6 year old is expected to hit shelves across the country later this month, with a suggested retail price of $60. The good news is that this whiskey is a new permanent member of the Rebel family, so tracking down a bottle shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Rebel’s older whiskeys have historically scored well with our panel, and it’ll be interesting to see how well the recipe holds up at this new age statement.
