Redemption Rye Whiskey Brand Gets New Owners

The Redemption whiskey family, including Redemption Straight Rye Whiskey, Redemption High Rye Bourbon, Redemption Bourbon, Riverboat Rye, White Whiskey and Limited Edition Barrel Selections, is generally considered a decent mid-shelf selection among whiskey drinkers. It apparently has been successful enough in sales for its creators, industry veterans Dave Schmier and Michael Kanbar, to draw acquisition attention that sees a shift in ownership to Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits.

Redemption Whiskey, according to the lore spun up by its founders, “was created serendipitously when [Schmier and Kanbar] uncovered a cache of Rye Whiskey barrels they believed to be the perfect expression of this classic American spirit.” It is today made at the infamous MGP distillery in Indiana, but in what seems to be a nod to the fact coming more clean likely wins you more fans, Redemption at least mentions its whiskies are “distilled in Indiana and bottled in small batches in Bardstown, KY with each batch and bottle number hand written on every label.”

The whiskies under the Redemption label – particularly the special, limited edition rye offerings that are barrel proof and range in age from 6 to 10 years – have “garnered accolades in prestigious competitions including achieving Gold and Double Gold medals in the 2015 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.” The brand as a whole has also tripled in size in the last two years “despite demand consistently exceeding supply.”

The company taking stewardship of Redemption, Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, is more known for being the owners of a huge stable of wine brands such as [ yellow tail ], [ yellow tail ] The Reserve and [ yellow tail ] Bubbles from Australia and Kunde Family Estate out of California. They have a limited number of spirits as well, including a vodka, in their portfolio.

“Six years ago we entered the spirits business after almost three decades as a wine company and we have been very selective about what brands we brought into our portfolio,” said Peter Deutsch, CEO, Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, in a statement. “The addition of Redemption provides a high quality entry into the most dynamic segment of the spirits business: American Whiskey. The premium and ultra-premium segments within the Whiskey category remind me a lot of premium wine, with consumers being open to experiment, focused more on quality than slick marketing and interested in learning more about the product itself.”