MGP Rye Whiskey Explained: The Indiana Distillery Behind More Bottles Than You Think

If you have a few American ryes on your shelf, there is a good chance at least one of them started life in the same place: a riverside distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. For years it rarely put its own name on a bottle. It supplied the whiskey, and other brands built the labels, the stories and the price tags.

That distillery is MGP. Its signature 95% rye recipe did a lot to put rye back on American bar shelves, yet most drinkers have never ordered it by name. Here is what MGP rye actually is, how to spot it on a label, and why two bottles from the same recipe can taste very different.

The timing is good. In September 2026, MGP released MGP Chapter One: Out of the Shadows, which the company calls its first bourbon sold under its own name. It is a 10-year-old, 111-proof bourbon, not a rye. Even so, its recipe is 60% corn, 36% rye and 4% malted barley, a high-rye bourbon mash bill that fans will recognise from sourced labels. MGP priced it at $69.99 for a 750ml bottle, with limited quantities across the US this fall. At the same time, the company is bringing the MGP Distillery name back to the Lawrenceburg site, which had been renamed Ross & Squibb Distillery in 2021.

What MGP is, and why rye drinkers should care

The Lawrenceburg distillery goes back to the 1840s. It spent most of the 20th century under Seagram, passed through Pernod Ricard and a short spell as Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana, and has been owned by MGP Ingredients since 2011. It is one of the largest whiskey producers in the country, and most of its whiskey is sold to other companies.

Those customers include some of the best-known names in rye. Bulleit Rye arrived in 2011, George Dickel Rye followed in 2012, and Redemption, Templeton and High West all built early rye lines on Indiana whiskey. When people talk about the rye revival of the 2010s, a big share of the liquid came from this one place.

MGP's main rye mash bills

The mash bill is the grain recipe, and it is the single biggest clue to what an MGP whiskey will taste like. If you want the basics first, our guide to what a rye mash bill is covers them. MGP currently lists these rye-heavy recipes for its customers:

Recipe	Corn	Rye	Malted barley	Typical character
95% rye whiskey	0%	95%	5%	Dill, mint, bold spice, caramel and vanilla
51% rye whiskey	45%	51%	4%	Softer and rounder, closer to a Kentucky-style rye
High-rye bourbon	60%	36%	4%	Cherry, baking spice, sweet corn base
Bourbon (lower rye)	75%	21%	4%	Classic sweet bourbon profile

The 95/5 is the famous one. With almost no corn, it leans hard into rye grain character: fresh herbs, dill, peppery spice and a candied sweetness once the barrel has done its work. The 51% rye recipe, which just clears the legal 51% minimum, drinks softer and sweeter because of all that corn. MGP added it among several new recipes in 2013, which is why aged versions only started showing up in the late 2010s.

The 36% rye bourbon matters to rye fans too. It is the recipe inside Chapter One, and it is the kind of mash bill you will find in bottles like Redemption 10 Year Barrel Proof High-Rye Bourbon. Our explainer on what high-rye bourbon is explains where that category ends and rye begins.

Distilled in Indiana, bottled somewhere else

Here is the label trick worth learning. Federal rules require most American whiskies to show the state where they were originally distilled. A brand can do that with a "Distilled by" statement, a state name next to the whiskey type (such as "Kentucky Straight Bourbon", which also means it was aged there), or a plain line like "Distilled in Indiana."

So a rye bottled in Iowa, Tennessee or Colorado can still say "Distilled in Indiana" in small type on the back. That line does not name MGP, but for a large, well-aged Indiana rye it is a strong hint. Templeton learned this the hard way: after a 2015 class action settlement it added "Distilled in Indiana" to its labels and dropped claims about a Prohibition-era recipe.

Two cautions. First, "Distilled in Indiana" is not proof of MGP, since other Indiana distilleries exist. Second, a 95% rye mash bill is not proof of MGP either. Plenty of distilleries now make 95/5, and some brands using it do not say where their whiskey comes from.

Sourced whiskey vs contract-distilled whiskey

These two terms get used as if they mean the same thing, but they do not. Sourced whiskey is usually bought from a distiller's standard stock: MGP makes its own recipes, ages them, and sells barrels or bulk whiskey to brands. Several labels can end up drawing from the same recipe.

Contract distilling means the brand orders whiskey made to its own specification, sometimes its own mash bill, yeast or barrel entry proof, and the distiller produces it for them. Both can make excellent whiskey. The honest question is not "is it sourced?" but "does the brand tell you?"

Rye brands with Indiana roots

Here are well-known ryes where the Indiana link is clearly documented, either by the brand itself or by consistent industry reporting:

• Bulleit Rye: 95% rye, 5% malted barley, made by MGP in Lawrenceburg. The Bulleit 95 Rye carries a RyeCentral Consensus Score 3.8/5, and the older Bulleit 12 Year Rye uses the same 95/5 recipe and scores RyeCentral Consensus Score 3.8/5.
• George Dickel Rye: mashed, distilled and aged by MGP in Indiana, then charcoal filtered and bottled elsewhere by Diageo. See our George Dickel Rye review.
• High West Rendezvous Rye: High West says it blends MGP 95/5 with its own 80% rye, 20% malted rye distillate. Our Rendezvous Rye review has the details.
• Templeton: the brand now distills in Iowa, but older stock is Indiana whiskey. Templeton says its 95/5 10 Year Reserve is "Distilled in Indiana, Aged in Templeton."
• Redemption Rye: a 95% rye bottled at 92 proof, and an early MGP customer that first launched in 2010. Read our Redemption Straight Rye review.
• TinCup Rye: a young 95/5 rye distilled in Indiana and bottled at 90 proof. See the TinCup Straight Rye review.
• Sagamore Spirit 10 Year: labeled as distilled in Indiana; the brand does not name the distillery, though MGP is widely assumed.

Sourcing changes over time, so always read the current label. WhistlePig's Old World 12 Year, for example, was Indiana 95/5 in its early years, but more recent bottles say "Product of Canada."

Why two MGP ryes taste different

If so many brands start from the same 95/5, why do they taste different? The recipe is just the starting point.

Age

Young 95/5 is loud and grassy, with dill and pine. Past about eight years, the barrel pulls it toward caramel, dried fruit and leather. A young TinCup and a 12-year Bulleit share a recipe but not much else.

Proof

Proof controls how much flavor reaches you and how fast. A 90-proof pour is easygoing; a barrel-proof bottle concentrates both spice and sweetness.

Barrel selection

Where a barrel sat in the warehouse changes how it ages. Brands choose which barrels to buy, and single-barrel picks can swing a long way from the standard bottling.

Finishing and filtering

Dickel's charcoal filtering smooths the edges. Wine, rum or port cask finishes add a whole new layer. Both are choices the brand makes after the whiskey leaves Indiana.

Blending

Rendezvous blends MGP rye with High West's own whiskey, and other brands mix ages or recipes. Blending is where a brand's own palate matters most. Our rye production guide walks through each step.

Could an MGP-branded rye come next?

This part is speculation, so treat it that way. MGP has said more expressions will follow Chapter One, but it has not said anything about a rye. Given how closely its 95/5 is tied to the rye revival, an MGP-named rye would be a logical next chapter. Until the company announces one, it remains a guess.

What it means for your next bottle

Read the back label before the front. "Distilled in Indiana" plus a 95% rye mash bill usually points to the Lawrenceburg style: bright spice, herbs and a candied finish. Then weigh age and proof, since those will tell you more about the flavor than the brand story will.

Want a side-by-side lesson? Pour Bulleit 95 Rye next to George Dickel Rye. Same recipe, same distillery, and two different results after filtering and bottling choices. Then try the Templeton 10 Year Reserve to taste what a decade in oak does to 95/5.

You have probably been drinking MGP whiskey for years. Now you know how to find it. For more high-proof, spice-forward picks, browse our high-rye whiskey collection, where each review page shows where to buy.