There is a pretty good chance you have tasted whiskey from MGP Distillery, even if you have never purchased a bottle with MGP on the label.
For decades, the distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, has been one of the most important behind-the-scenes producers of American whiskey. MGP has supplied bourbon and rye whiskey to numerous brands, including some that eventually became major players in the whiskey business.
In the early days of my whiskey education, some distilleries turned up their nose at MGP and it did not always get respect. When I toured MGP, it was a fascinating look at a campus designed to make distilled spirits. Lots of distilled spirits.
Now MGP is doing something different. Instead of making whiskey that ends up behind someone else’s label, MGP is putting its own name front and center.
MGP Chapter One: Out of the Shadows
The name of the new release couldn’t be more appropriate.
MGP Chapter One: Out of the Shadows is the first namesake whiskey released under the MGP banner, and they didn’t start small.
Chapter One is a 10-year-old Indiana Straight Bourbon Whiskey bottled at 111 proof. It uses MGP’s historic LBSV mash bill of 60% corn, 36% rye and 4% malted barley.
That 36% rye makes this a particularly interesting high-rye bourbon.
The barrels spent the entire ten years aging in Rickhouse G at the Lawrenceburg distillery before Master Distiller Ian Stirsman selected and blended them for this release.
The suggested retail price is $69.99. On paper, a 10-year-old, 111-proof MGP bourbon for around $70 certainly got my attention. But there is a much bigger story behind this bottle.
You May Already Know MGP Whiskey
MGP’s Lawrenceburg distillery has roots stretching back to 1847, long before anyone was talking about sourced bourbon.
The facility later became part of Seagram, and generations of distilling knowledge and whiskey recipes came out of Lawrenceburg. Among the best-known is the famous 95% rye and 5% malted barley recipe that has appeared in numerous American rye whiskeys.
As the modern bourbon and rye boom took off, MGP found itself in an interesting position. New whiskey brands were appearing everywhere, but there was an obvious problem.
You can create a whiskey company today. You can’t create eight-year-old whiskey today. MGP had the whiskey. Lots of whiskey.
That made Lawrenceburg incredibly important to companies that wanted to establish a brand while their own distilleries and whiskey stocks were being developed.
Over the years, brands including High West, Redemption, Smooth Ambler Old Scout, Belle Meade, Templeton Rye and others have used whiskey distilled in Lawrenceburg. Bulleit Rye and George Dickel Rye have also been associated with the famous Lawrenceburg 95/5 rye recipe.
Some companies eventually moved toward their own distillation. Others built businesses around selecting, blending or finishing sourced whiskey. And sourcing relationships can change over time.
But MGP helped provide something every new distillery desperately needs and cannot manufacture: Time.
Is Sourced Whiskey Bad Whiskey?
Absolutely not.
I have said this many times on Bourbonfool. There is nothing inherently wrong with sourced whiskey.
For me, the important questions are whether a company is transparent about what it is selling and, ultimately, whether the whiskey tastes good. I’ve sampled some outstanding whiskey that originated at MGP.
Selecting great barrels is a skill. Blending whiskey is a skill. Finishing whiskey is a skill. Two companies can start with whiskey from the same distillery and create two completely different bottles.
And that is part of what makes this new release so interesting.
This Time It Says MGP on the Bottle
For years, knowledgeable whiskey drinkers would pick up an unfamiliar bottle and turn it around looking for a few important words:
Distilled in Indiana.
That was often a pretty good clue about where the whiskey originated. With Chapter One, there’s no detective work required.
MGP is right there on the front.
After decades of helping other companies build whiskey brands, MGP is stepping out from behind the curtain and putting its own reputation on the line. That’s why Chapter One: Out of the Shadows may be one of the more interesting new whiskey releases of 2026. But a great history, a 10-year age statement and 111 proof don’t automatically make a great bourbon.
I still had to taste it.
In my latest Bourbonfool video, I take a deeper look at the fascinating history of the Lawrenceburg distillery, its years under Seagram, the rise of MGP, some of the well-known whiskey brands that sourced their whiskey there, and finally open and taste MGP Chapter One: Out of the Shadows.
Watch the complete MGP history and Chapter One tasting here:
After spending decades making whiskey for everybody else, what happens when MGP finally puts its own name on the bottle?
That’s exactly what I wanted to find out.