Is your favorite small batch whisky a fake?

Well, damn. I feel a little bit dirty. I've tried at least three of these led-me-to-believe-they're-small-batch-but-they-aren't whiskys and liked them.
Is it wrong, or does it make the product less enjoyable? No. But it's a bit underhanded if you ask me...

excerpt:
"Lawrenceburg, Indiana (not to be confused with bourbon-locale Lawrenceburg, Kentucky) is home to a massive brick complex that cranks out mega-industrial quantities of beverage-grade alcohol. The factory, once a Seagram distillery, has changed hands over the decades and was most recently acquired by food-ingredient corporation MGP. It is now a one-stop shop for marketers who want to bottle their own brands of spirits without having to distill the product themselves. MGP sells them bulk vodka and gin, as well as a large selection of whiskies, including bourbons of varying recipes, wheat whiskey, corn whiskey, and rye. (They also make “food grade industrial alcohol” used in everything from solvents and antiseptics to fungicides.) Their products are well-made, but hardly what one thinks of as artisanal. And yet, much of the whiskey now being sold as the hand-crafted product of micro-distilleries actually comes from this one Indiana factory."

Read More
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...bly-from-a-factory-distillery-in-indiana.html

Not very surprising. It'd be good if people owned up to stuff, but we all know that isn't likely. Thanks for the article.

Interesting. I'm very good at picking out which "craft" beers are actually made my AB or another huge brewer. Not so much with spirits.

George Dickel Rye starts with MGP whiskey but charcoal-filters it before bottling.

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so george dickel isnt even real tennesee whisky?


or is it just there rye.i dont know,i think its stupid they make it with whiskey from indiana yet they dont actually sell george dickel(or at least in the places ive been to)in indiana.all i ever see is jack daniels when it comes to tennesee whiskey

That's interesting/disappointing/not surprising. Seems like these days, no one can tell the truth or just say plainly what something is (or is not). It's all spin and hype.

IMHO the real problem with that is justifying the big "artisanal-craft-made-by-hand-by-seventh-generation-family-owned-yadayada" markup.

Pretty disappointing. Especially since I like Dickel and Bulliet Rye...Hard to argue that MGP doesnt make some quality whiskeys though.

Well.. at least it is not made in China with turpentine and lead....

At least not yet

I don't see many people upset about the fact that the Old Van Winkle distillery's products are actually made by Buffalo Trace, and who's to say these aren't small batch bourbons, all that denotes is that a select few barrels (<20 give or take) were blended to create one product not how the whiskey actually got in the barrels.

Even though it all made by the same distillery people still have their favorite. Your mind will suggest that one is better than the other. Funny the way advertising and suggestions work.

These guys are for real and their whiskey is fabulous. Make these small distilleries your new favorite. You won't regret it.

http://fingerlakesdistilling.com

http://www.adirondackdistilling.com/products

Mark24 said:

so george dickel isnt even real tennesee whisky?


or is it just there rye.i dont know,i think its stupid they make it with whiskey from indiana yet they dont actually sell george dickel(or at least in the places ive been to)in indiana.all i ever see is jack daniels when it comes to tennesee whiskey

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MGP only provides the Dickel Rye. And last I checked, the bottle didn't claim it as a Tennessee Whisky. The charcoal filtering is still done in Lawrenceburgh however. Have no fear, GD12 is still Tennessee Sippin Whisky.

As for finding it in IN, I've found it at crown liquors and Big Red before. The 12 is about $20.

Stuck on good 'ol Jack Daniel's, cant be beat imo

Doc4 said:

IMHO the real problem with that is justifying the big "artisanal-craft-made-by-hand-by-seventh-generation-family-owned-yadayada" markup.

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I agree. I really couldn't care less where american whiskey comes from, as long as its good. The problem is now that "craft" and "bourbon" are both hot, everybody and their grandmother is bottling whisky at prices they don't deserve. Most of the $40-50 whiskey out there right now should be selling for $20-30 in my opinion. It sells because people want to discover the next big thing, but there aren't too many diamonds hiding in the rough.

Bulleit Rye is very good stuff, and at $25 a fifth, honestly who cares where its made and by whom?? (Yeah it may cost $50 in Canada or Taxachusetts, but that's not LDI's fault)

Drink what you like no matter what the marketing lure.

Chris

The article grossly oversimplifies things in many ways, and sensationalizes something that most whiskey drinkers already knew anyway. Bulleit Rye, for example, states right on the label that it comes from Lawrenceburg. Many of the others do as well. True, many of the upstart distilleries try to disguise, or outright hide, the fact that they aren't selling their own juice, but really, what is the practical alternative for a new whiskey distillery? Not many can maintain production of a product for years while waiting for other barrels to age, all the while having nothing to sell to keep them in business.

It's an interesting discussion, but not news. The writer comes across as if he has just uncovered some scandal the we ignorant masses were unaware of.

Good whiskey is good whiskey, it doesn't matter who put it in the barrel.

Interesting that he didn't delve into how many of the small batch brands are actually part of the huge Kentucky distilleries.

73mountaineer said:

The writer comes across as if he has just uncovered some scandal the we ignorant masses were unaware of.

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Well said Steve. You don't have to follow the whisky market much to know this is going on. Stay tuned for the groundbreaking article where he uncovers how more and more scotches are moving to NAS, and the "shocking" reason why...

I don't have a problem with liquor that is mass produced elsewhere and sold under different labels but I do have a problem with the premium price attached to these same products when they are marketed as craft distilled products that they are not. If the same whiskeys are sold by a dozen different bottlers there is no reason why that product should be priced at a premium point. Bulliet is fairly reasonably priced for the quality of the product. However, I've seen several sourced liquors selling at a higher price than Bulliet for a much lower quality product because the labeling makes it appear the product was made by a local craft distiller. I don't even have a problem with bottlers who buy sourced liquors and conduct their own barreling and blending because they are doing something with the product that requires a skill beyond filling bottles. But if all you are doing is bottling a finished product made elsewhere then there is no reason to pay a premium price. This mess is a good reason why I buy very little liquor.

This may be one of the most useful articles to ever come from GQ, and very on point with this discusson.
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