Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. This in no way, per our editorial policies, influenced the final outcome of this review.
Lawrenceburg, Indiana is our home setting for the Ross & Squibb Distillery, and where our story starts. Of course, Lawrenceburg is not without other claims to whiskey fame, being the distilling home of whiskey giant MGP. Furthermore, the Lawrenceburg whiskey legacy goes way back, and Ross & Squibb goes back with it.
Though not associated until many years later, the first distillery at this site was Dunn&Ludlow, a small operation, in 1809. 1847 brings in the first of our major players, George Ross, starting his rye distillery – Rossville Union. W.P. Squibb & Co. followed just shy of two decades later, setting up shop near that original first distillery, which by that time had already closed.
As does any American distillery from that time, both Rossville Union and W.P. Squibb & Co. let Prohibition become a part of the tale. For Rossville Union, that meant distilling industrial liquor, and therefore being able to legally stay open. For W.P. Squibb & Co., “legal” isn’t quite the right word.
The “king of bootleggers,” George Remus, bought W.P. Squibb & Co. in 1921, theoretically to produce medicinal liquor for legal sale. The reality was that Remus, a talented lawyer, was trying to use this Prohibition loophole to sell bootleg liquor, at which point he saw a very significant and limited success. He bought up a substantial portion of American distilling operations, all of which were seized by the government when he got caught, convicted and imprisoned. Remus’ story absolutely does not end there, but it is where he exits this story.
W.P. Squibb & Co. was released from its FBI purgatory in 1937 and could return to whiskey-making. Rossville Union, while never shuttered during Prohibition, had got back into the drinking whiskey game four years earlier under the ownership of Seagrams.
It wasn’t until this millennium that our players come together, this time under MGP ownership. The Rossville Union distillery was renamed to honor both George Ross and William Squibb and their whiskey legacies. In the style of both, Ross & Squibb is making both bourbon and rye with the attention to detail and craft that these distilleries have long employed. They even make the George Remus label, to honor his legacy too.
This expression is definitely a nod to Rossville Union’s rye focus, as a bottled-in-bond straight rye whiskey. And it absolutely hits all the requirements to be a straight rye whiskey, with 51% of the mash bill being rye. Unusual, though, that it stops there, and fills in the other 49% with malted barley, a grain usually employed in small amount for the fermentation effect. Here, however, it’s playing an active role in the flavor of the whiskey.
Trending Stories
This bottle is unique and interesting, and after all of these years I like to be still surprised by something new.
Tasting Notes: Rossville Union Bottled-in-Bond Straight Rye Whiskey
Vital Stats: 50% ABV; mashbill: 51%rye, 49% malted barley; bottled-in-bond; distilled 03/17; aged minimum 6 years; 750mL.
Appearance: Evenly spaced and slow legs, mostly translucent, amber with gold highlights
Nose: Banana, banana, banana! After a few minutes some of the freshly peeled banana blows off and lets other notes through. Savory green pea leads into a heady sweetness with lots of vanilla bean, and some oakiness makes a show mid-way through.
Palate: A bit of rye roughness almost immediately mellows into almost un-ripe green apple, which sticks around. Slightly thin in texture. Virtually no sweetness, but more fruit flavors come up over time, grounded by a dark rye graininess, without grassiness. Fruit becomes flower as some musk makes an appearance as well.
Latest News