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If you’ve ever wondered why there are many bourbon drinkers who also seem to have interests in history, here’s my theory. Bourbon isn’t a product that’s just made at the drop of a hat. It’s a product that requires years of aging before it’s ready. By time it’s done maturing, the flavors and scents you get are directly correlated to all of the time it spent in that barrel. Was it stored on a hot, high-tier floor? On a lower, cooler floor? Perhaps it was stored on its end instead of on its side. Maybe it was stored in a state way out west rather than in Kentucky?
The point is there is so many details that you must uncover to know why a bourbon turned out the way it did. The bottle I’m reviewing today has a past full of tiny details that may make it one of the more interesting bourbons to ever come out of the Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
The Great Barrel Shortage of 2015-2016
To understand why the bottle you see before you exists, we have to look back in time at the history of what was going on with bourbon producers in 2015. This was the year that production exploded across the industry. On top of the major distilleries pumping up the volume of distillate, hundreds of craft distilleries were turning on their stills for the first time. Even more important were the number of new large-scale distilleries who were too big to be called “craft.” Overnight, they were all demanding tens of thousands of barrels to an industry that was ill-prepared.
Names like Michter’s, Bardstown Bourbon Company, O.Z. Tyler (now Green River), Lux Row, Peerless, Wilderness Trail, Tennessee Distilling Group and many more had turned on their stills within 18 months of each other – and they all needed barrels.
The great barrel shortage was interesting because it forced producers to get creative in acquiring somewhere to put all of the distillate they were making. There were producers like Cascade Hollow (makers of George Dickel) that experimented with the old Scottish technique of Shaving, Toasting and Re-charring barrels (STR for short). Foreign sources of oak were also considered for production which is probably what led Buffalo Trace to introduce the Charter Oak series of bourbon. But one of the largest sources of barrels involved contacting wine barrel producers to see if they could buy excess casks to put bourbon in.
Getting to the point of the story, MGP was one such producer who found a wine barrel maker with some extra inventory. Lucky for them it happened to be one of the top barrel manufacturers in the world: Seguin Moreau.
Seguin Moreau is a cooperage company most noted for producing casks for wine and Cognac. If they are produced over in France, they primarily use French Oak. The casks are also much larger – typically 60 gallons or more (compared to our 53 gallon American Standard Barrels). Upon MGP reaching out, Seguin Moreau informed them that they had a few truckloads of American Standard Barrels. The other important specs are that the staves were American oak (not French like I had originally thought), seasoned for 24+ months, toasted and (lightly) charred. MGP purchased them all immediately. The barrels were filled with MGP’s high rye mash bill (LBSV) and carefully tracked throughout the years for a potential special release.
Remus Master Distiller Experimental Series (No. 1)
I won’t name sources, but I was given a sample from this particular batch of barrels in 2023 when it was 7 years old. Back then the batch clocked in at 109.1 proof which means that the proof this release is bottled at might not be too far away from being barrel proof (the original TTB filing suggested it might be as high as 112 proof). At the time, I was sworn to secrecy and told not to write about it because MGP had plans to do something big with it. Here we are 2 years later and it’s finally coming to market.
A couple months ago, I was contacted by Ian Stirsman if I wanted a bottle of this for me to review and I couldn’t say no. Unfortunately scheduling conflicts made me wait longer than expected to finally tell the story of this bottle. So, without further ado, let’s get down to tasting it. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: MGP bourbon typically is a jack of all trades when it comes to the flavors and scents found in their whiskey. With that being said, I’m finding this perfectly balanced nose with notes like brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, seasoned oak and candied citrus. There’s even sweetened stone fruit in the mix. But the toasted barrel has enriched these scents with an extra layer of sweetness like toasted marshmallow, sweet oak and creme brulee. Speaking about that last note, I’m surprised with its strength. It’s like I can smell the rich, oily/fatty content of the liquid. The nose is absolutely superb.
Palate: The toasted barrel effect makes itself known with each sip. I have a friend named JD who would always pick out a buttery note with MGP in blind tastings – and this one is the epitome of buttery. It’s so thick on my tongue that it coats everything else. Each sip also contains a big hit of brown sugar/molasses, oak, leather and tobacco along with some red fruit compote. Vanilla and toasted marshmallow also are very noticeable. High rye notes of cinnamon, licorice and toasted orange peel offer clues as to the mash bill, but are softened by the toasted barrel part.
Finish: The finish continues the trend of sweetness and tannins from the palate. A bit of dry oak creeps in along with seasoned oak and leather. The brown sugar kind of morphs into syrup and slowly fades away while the baking spices and licorice remain as strong as ever. Vanilla and marshmallow calm down a bit as well. A tiny bit of orange zest, cherry and sweetened apricot linger. A fairly dense mouthfeel leaves you satisfied but wanting another sip.
Score: 8.4/10
For years now, I’ve felt that MGP (Ross & Squib) hasn’t done enough to create a unique product to really grab enthusiasts’ attention. The early Remus Single Barrels were quite young. Remus Repeal Reserve seemed like a compromise between the bean counters and the blending crew. And Rossville Union felt uninspired from a distillery who was literally the king of rye whiskey. But finally I feel as if they have a label worth pursuing and a fitting inaugural whiskey to put inside of it.
The first Remus Experimental Batch showcases just how important cooperage can be to taking a great whiskey and making it even better. I know that this is probably just a one-off release, but I’d gladly pay a premium for this bottle to exist on a regular basis; and I think others would too.
Final Thoughts
I haven’t enjoyed a product from the MGP brand this much since Remus Repeal Reserve V. There is a lot to love inside of this bottle and it definitely showcases the brand in a much more premium and desirable light. I have heard rumors of a few of the upcoming experimental whiskies that they’re thinking about putting into this series, but let me say this much: this is the one you’ll want to get right now. This is a giant leap towards making the Remus brand a truly desirable brand to have in your collection.