Templeton Releases Its First Own-Make Whiskey, and It's a Bourbon

Almost seven years ago to the day, Templeton Rye broke ground on a new distillery in Templeton, Iowa. Prior to that (and in the years since, while its new distillate aged), the brand sourced whiskey from MGP. Now, the distillery is ready to release its first house whiskey, and in a surprise move, it’s not a rye, but a bourbon—marking the first-ever bourbon from Templeton.

Fortitude Bourbon is made with a high-rye mashbill consisting of 55% corn, 40% rye, and 5% malted barley. (Though there are no hard-and-fast rules, a high-rye bourbon typically has at least 20% rye in the mashbill.) The corn is locally sourced, coming from nearby farms that are within 15 miles of the distillery. Fortitude, which comes in at 46% ABV and is non-chill filtered, is available nationwide for $40 a bottle.

Templeton Distillery sits on 20 acres of land, and while rye is certainly the brand’s bread and butter, the site has the capacity to distill all styles of American whiskey and can produce 3 million bottles annually. The distillery is home to a visitor center and small museum (showcasing Templeton, Iowa’s bootleg history), and has two warehouses on-site.