Templeton Rye produced in Indiana!

[ThomasH]

An article in todays Des Moines Register states that Tepleton Rye is currently made in Indiana but that the company plans to start distilling later this year in a newly expanded 12,000 sq. ft. facilicty in Iowa. It also says the rye is aged at least 4 years. Elsewhere in the article it also says that the rye is currently available in Iowa and Illinois!


Thomas

[Gillman]

Indiana, so that Lawrenceburg plant..?

Gary

[Gillman]

Seagram's had owned the Lawrenceburg distillery (making gin I know), sold it to Pernod Ricard, which in turn sold the plant to CL Financial, the principal of Angostura distillery of Trinidad and Tobago.

It sounds as if Seagram or PR may have run a batch of rye whiskey for the Templeton concern and possibly this is continuing.

Gary

[ThomasH]

I had read quite a while back that Lawrenceburg made quite good rye that was never bottled on its own but rather was produced as one of the component whiskeys that was blended into Seagrams 7!

Thomas

[Gillman]

Ah, well that would explain it further. There is another distillery in Indiana, Starlight Distillery, which is an outgrowth of Huber Winery in Borden. The Starlight has distilled brandy from wines made at Huber. See www.starlight.com, I'd like to try that brandy. However I'd guess that the Templeton rye was sourced from the plant in Lawrenceburg Seagram had owned.

That rye is a nice product (mild, flavorful, balanced), so nice I am surprised that Seagram wouldn't have sold it on its own.

One of my relations has a handle of circa-1980 Seagram 7 in a Florida condo. It is an excellent drink of whiskey and certainly must contain a proportion of rye whiskey made in Lawrenceburg.

Gary

[barturtle]

Suddenly, I'm much more interested in geting my hands on some of this...I had always guessed it to be one of the usual bulks...but this is much more interesting.

[cowdery]

I'm quite certain Huber's didn't produce the Templeton rye. I spent some time there recently and their distilling operation is not that far along.

If Seagram's produced it at Lawrenceburg, and I'm not convinced, it was not produced "for" Templeton. It would have been existing straight rye that Templeton merely acquired.

That Seagram's produced it at Lawrenceburg is possible, but I am still skeptical. It's possible the product is being bottled...hence technically "produced" there...but wasn't distilled there.

Who made it is an interesting question because it's a good straight rye. Scott Bush (Templeton's owner) could simply tell us.

The Des Moines Register story is here. It's the head of the Iowa ABC, not Bush, who says "Indiana."

[barturtle]

I once ran across a bottling called Seagram's 5 Star Rye Whiskey on a online liquor store...I was quite interested in procuring a bottle, but when I was in the area the physical store was closed that day...

...so that at least provides some evidence that Seagram's makes/made such a product.

[Gillman]

That would be a Canadian blend though, Tim, it is sold here as such. It may well use straight rye made at Lawrenceburg although I'd have thought all the distillery inputs are made in Canada, except maybe for aged S-W apparently going into Crown Royal, but it is a typical Canadian blended whisky.

I guess it is possible Templeton rye was only bottled in Lawrenceburg, but I believe it was distilled there too. Not in the sense of being made to order, but broadly in the sense that Seagram made some surplus rye available for the new venture in Iowa. This is indeed an inference from what the Iowa official was quoted as saying.

In my view, the Russell's Reserve rye is similar in style to this Templeton rye, i.e., mild and soft in palate, albeit apparently different in origin.

Gary

[mozilla]

From the information I have looked at.....Iowa is the only listed place of origin for the operation. They list in their label applications some information....being they make three different products. 1. straight rye 2. rye 3. other (not described).
That is about all the info that is listed on the TTB website from 06 to present.