Tasting notes

nose

maple and vanilla over brown sugar, with cherry, ripe berries and a light touch of oak

palate

vanilla and cherry pie, then a sweet rye spice with seasoned oak underneath

finish

long; rye spice and leather linger over oak, fading to a soft vanilla sweetness

Mash bill

Corn, rye and malted barley; the proportions in this blend are not published. It is a high-rye blend of straight bourbons, and the distillery's two published high-rye bourbon recipes are 75% corn, 21% rye and 4% malted barley, and 60% corn, 36% rye and 4% malted barley; which of them go into this blend has not been published. The 36% rye recipe is heavy with caramel, cocoa and roasted nuts, while the 21% recipe is softer, with vanilla, dried fruit and a light rye spice at the end.

Why it's craft

Remus is the house bourbon of the Lawrenceburg, Indiana distillery that George Ross opened in 1847, named for George Remus, the Cincinnati lawyer known as the King of the Bootleggers during Prohibition. MGP bought the brand in November 2016 and made this blend of its own high-rye bourbons the first release under the name. The distillery also makes whiskey for other companies to bottle under their own names; Remus is one it bottles itself, aged 5 to 6 years.