Everything you want to know about the warehouses at Ross & Squibb Distillery (MGP-Indiana)

This article that will receive frequent updates as more information becomes available, so please keep checking back in the future!

Do you love learning about how your favorite American whiskies are made from start to finish? If so, then you already know there is a lot of information out there about how bourbon and rye are distilled, but not a whole lot about how it ages. This is a shame because the maturation process is where more than 75% of the flavor and character of a whiskey comes from.

That’s why I’ve started to document the locations of every distillery’s warehouses. Every warehouse is unique and their location will help influence the way a barrel turns out. Keep reading as I explore everyone’s favorite Lawrenceburg, Indiana distillery by looking at the maturation warehouses spread across the Ross & Squibb campus.

Why should you care about the warehouse your whiskey was aged in?

There are lots of reasons to care about maturation warehouses. The most important one is if you find a single barrel you like and have information on the warehouse it was aged in, you might be able to find similar tasting whiskey from other releases that came from that warehouse. Wild Turkey enthusiasts do this all the time. In fact, it’s probably one of the reasons why Campari released the Single Rickhouse expression. Four Roses enthusiasts have also been known to track down “sister barrels” that were located next to their favorite barrels using the information located at the bottom of the label.

I’ll be totally honest here, it’s going to be hard to find out where your MGP barrels were aged. Most of the Non-Distiller Producers (NDPs) don’t even know that information. But a lot has changed over the last five years. I would say that the major turning point was Aaron Chepenik’s educational and informational videos from the early days of Smoke Wagon. Check them out on Instagram and you can learn what he’s observed about the warehouses he’s picked barrels out of.

I found that a lot of that information Aaron covered flew over enthusiasts’ heads because up until that point, MGP was still a very tightly ran facility with virtually no tours being conducted. Thankfully, their Public Relations department has slowly loosened up and let more eyes see the nooks and crannies they previously weren’t allowed to show.

Ross & Squibb Warehouse Locations

All of this is to say that the differences in warehouse construction and their location at the Indiana facility are much more than you might think. But before I go any more in-depth, let’s look at the map to get a feel for the campus. Of note, I had to split the map into two so that the detail could be a little more noticeable.

*This is the south end of the campus. The front gate is almost due south of Warehouse G*

Breaking down the four main types of warehouses that the Ross & Squibb Distillery have on site

Original Brick Warehouses

The two main warehouses you’re looking at when you pull into the Ross & Squibb parking lot are Warehouse G (on the right) and Warehouses J and M on the left. Yes, those are combined warehouses, so it looks like a single building. It also has a barrel-filling line on the main floor, so if you’ve ever been inside it might not appear like it’s aging any whiskey in it. These warehouses have minimal window openings and are brick. The insides have wooden ricks where the barrels are stored six high.

The thick concrete floors between each level ensure that temperatures stay more-or-less the same no matter if you’re on the top floor or the bottom. Warehouse G tended to be one of Aaron Chepenik’s favorite warehouses. He was often picking barrels from floors as high as he could.

Of note, the bottom level of Warehouse G has a giant refrigerated storage space that is used to store all the botanicals for gin production. No barrels are stored down there.

Original Brick Warehouses that border Tanner Creek

If you look at the map, Warehouses N, L and V are all mere yards from Tanner’s Creek. In the summer months, the humidity levels rise. When the doors and windows have to get opened (to vent fumes as per OSHA regulations I assume), the humidity seeps in. Then when they’re shut, the humidity stays locked in the barrel storage area. That humidity is said to be responsible for some of a drop in proof while the barrels age. And while what I’m going to say next is not an absolute truth, many of the low proof single barrel picks that we’ve seen come from Smooth Ambler, Belle Meade and others could be attributed to being aged in these warehouses.

Metal Warehouses

Only one metal-clad warehouse existed prior to the campus expansion project in the early 2010’s: Warehouse H – also known as “Iron Clad.” This metal structure is simple in its design: metal walls and roof and a flat concrete floor. This warehouse was often used for experimental projects to see the results of maturation faster than if the barrels were to rest in the brick warehouses.

Later, as MGP sunk more money into the campus for expansion, new metal warehouses were built. On the maps look for warehouses P, O and Q. These are huge structures but are still only 1 story tall. Inside, they stack palletized barrels 6 high and use forklifts to move them around.

These warehouses supply MGP’s many customers with younger barrels. Most barrels that are aged in these metal warehouses are typically aged for 4 to 6 years. You can usually identify them based on the bunghole being on top of the barrel (in the head). MGP also has purchased or leased space in a few surrounding areas to increase storage of these faster-aging palletized barrels. I’ll publish more on those areas later.

Old Quaker Warehouses

Old Quaker was a distillery that was a separate entity from Seagram’s (which is what the MGP/Ross & Squibb distillery turned out to be). It was owned by Schenley shortly before it was shuttered and its buildings were mainly sold off to transportation companies and other commercial enterprises. MGP purchased some of the warehouses that were still intact and unused some time after 2013 and refurbished them to hold barrels again. On the map they are labeled F, H and K.

These warehouses are also brick and they have ricks inside (not palletized). The primary difference is the amount of windows they were built with. It’s many more than warehouses like G, J and M. These windows allow for greater breathing characteristics when opened. But they also allow for decreased insulation which may or may not be a good thing. The floors are separated by thick layers of concrete as well.

More Space Needed

Additional Warehouses were needed with MGP’s giant expansion project. Since the campus in Lawrenceburg is landlocked, they decided to expand out to other locations. Not much is known about these except from what Google Maps can show us and we can assume they’re off-limits to tours, haha