After Decades of Making Whiskey for Others, MGP Puts Its Name on the Bottle

Behind many of the non-distilling producers in the U.S.—and even some that make their own whiskey—lies a single name: MGP (Midwest Grain Products). The Lawrenceburg, Indiana-based distillery, capable of producing millions of proof gallons per year (making it among the biggest distilleries in the U.S.), has sent its whiskeys to be bottled under countless brand names. Throughout it all, MGP has remained largely behind the scenes, cited on many labels only as “Distilled in Indiana.” Now, MGP has decided to release its own branded line of whiskeys, the very first to prominently feature “MGP” on the bottle.

The first release, simply called “MGP Chapter One: Out of the Shadows,” is a 10 year old bourbon that clocks in at 55.5% ABV. It’s made from MGP’s signature high-rye bourbon mashbill: 60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% malted barley (a recipe also used by Hirsch, James E. Pepper, and within the distillery’s Ross & Squibb lineup, among others). Every barrel of Out of the Shadows is aged in MGP’s Rickhouse G, a brick warehouse built in 1936. MGP Chapter One is available now in limited quantities nationwide for $70. There will be other releases down the road, though those details aren’t available yet.

This whiskey, like all MGP whiskeys, whether they’re for the distillery’s own releases or contract distillation, was made by master distiller Ian Stirsman, who joined the distillery in March 2014. While he started at MGP as a production shift manager, he began distilling in 2015 and was named master distiller in 2021. He took the reins from Greg Metze, who ran the distillery for 38 years before leaving the role in 2016. MGP did not name a master distiller between Metze’s retirement and Stirsman’s start in the role.

While this is MGP’s first whiskey to put its name front and center, it’s not the company’s first move into branding; that came in 2021, when it changed its name to Ross & Squibb Distillery and released the proprietary Rossville Union, Remus Repeal Reserve, George Remus, Eight & Sand, and Tanner’s Creeks labels (it also purchased Penelope Bourbon in 2023, having supplied whiskey for the brand since its inception). But those whiskeys didn’t tout the MGP name as this one does. The Chapter One release marks an about-face for MGP, which is dropping the Ross & Squibb Distillery name and reinstating MGP, in alignment with the release of this new whiskey.