What we’re drinking: Remus Master Distiller Experimental Series No. 1
Where it’s from: Crafted at the Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, IN, Remus is the branded home for products made by drinks giant MGP, which produces a lot of your favorite whiskeys from non-producing distillers (note: MGP merged with Luxco in 2021).
Why we’re drinking this: We drink a lot of whiskey from MGP, but we hadn’t dipped into their in-house brand Remus. There’s a fair amount of history here, at least as far as the distillery goes: What is now Ross & Squibb started as Rossville Distillery in 1847 by George Ross. Seagram’s bought the distillery in 1933, and MGP purchased it in 2011. The Remus brand is named after legendary bootlegger George Remus.
The distillery’s picked up plenty of accolades, but with the new Master Distiller Experimental Series, Ross & Squibb’s Master Distiller Ian Stirsman is now in charge of an annual release devoted to unique grains, mash bills and maturation techniques. For the inaugural release, that means aging bourbon in lightly-charred, heavily-toasted Seguin Moreau barrels. And if you don’t know what or who Seguin Moreau is, which I initially didn’t, we’ll explain!
“This collection is my kind of excuse to start experimenting with what we typically do,” Stirsman says. “We’re one of the five biggest whiskey distilleries in the country, and we do a ton of experimentation. But it’s usually based on how we perfect the thing that we do. We rarely go outside of the box and try something totally different.”
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Sometimes a hard-to-find whiskey justifies the sticker shockThis release of the Master’s Collection began in 2015. “There was a big barrel shortage, and we were getting barrels from wherever we could,” Stirsman says. “This batch of barrels came from a Napa Valley cooper that we didn’t typically work with but had roots back to France and specialized in wine. The barrels we typically use are like four char staves with two char heads. And these were lightly-charred barrels, heavily toasted, ultra-seasoned staves.” (The barrels, however, did not formerly contain any other liquid, like wine.)
Let’s see how this worked out.
How it tastes: Aged nine years and coming in at 107 proof, this is one of Remus’s core mash bills, featuring 36% rye. I almost didn’t believe this wasn’t finished in something that formerly held wine. There’s a strong Tawny Port character and plenty of oak but not a lot of bitter tannins. The caramel and vanilla seep in near the end, along with hints of leather, tobacco, chocolate and a very light nuttiness. Stirsman calls it “decadent with a lot of richness,” and I agree.
Fun fact: Remus recently released Babe Ruth Reserve 2025, with 8,399 bottles available, one for each of Babe Ruth’s career at-bats. This 111-proof collector’s bottle, released in conjunction with Ruth’s estate, features a marriage of three high-rye bourbon mash bills, but it’s the packaging that’s unique. The liquid comes in an ornate rectangular art deco-inspired glass bottle that features an embossed baseball diamond pattern and baseball bat knob wooden cork closure. The front and back labels incorporate Ruth’s signature, pinstripes and elements of a baseball diamond, while a QR code on the back label allows consumers to find out what Ruth did in the game that corresponds with that bottle’s number.
Where to buy: Remus Master Distiller Experimental Series No. 1 is available for $80 in limited quantities nationwide.
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