Orange marmalade | Lemon zest | Candy corn | Baking spice | Green tea

Juicy pear | Cherry | Fig | Caramel | Brown sugar | Seared mint | Oak

Aged seasoned oak | Rye spice | Baking spices | Toffee | Dried apricot | Green grape

Remus Repeal Reserve is MGP’s annual limited-release bourbon series under the George Remus brand, created to commemorate the repeal of Prohibition on December 5, 1933. The series debuted in 2017, with the first release blended with high-aged MGP bourbon and named after George Remus, the Prohibition-era Cincinnati bootlegger known as the “King of the Bootleggers.” This year marks the Remus Repeal series’ 10th anniversary and, for the first time, includes a rye release along with the company’s bourbon release.

MGP’s rye doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. Though this is the first rye in the Remus Repeal Reserve series, the company already bottles its own rye in its Rossville Union and Penelope Classic Series Rye releases, with the former offering very high quality and memorable releases. MGP also sells its high-aged rye (10+ years) to Templeton and Bulleit, among others. To differentiate this product, it blends two higher-aged rye lots crafted by Master Distiller Ian Stirsman.

First and foremost, age plays a major role with this release, particularly in the finish, despite the aforementioned brands releasing even older MGP rye than this release includes. Despite its 111 proof, this isn’t a robust rye that completely envelopes your senses. The mouthfeel has weight, but its flavor opens up gently. Though the aroma’s baking spice scent is cutting, welcoming scents of orange marmalade, lemon zest, candy corn, and green tea provide a varied range of flavor to start.

This release also loses some of the incredible brightness we’ve seen in some Rossville Union releases, but the tradeoff is a denser flavor profile overall. Pear, cherry, fig, caramel, and seared mint all carry near-equal weight, with more consistent flavor and overall presence. The finish hits big, with a lot of aged, seasoned oak up front that other high-aged MGP-made rye releases don’t offer in the same way.
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For fans of MGP-produced rye, Remus Repeal Reserve Straight Rye offers something new, not just more of what you may have had from the company many times before. It’s a rye that has big flavor, but it doesn’t hit you over the head with it either. It’s sophisticated without being meek, and it's a great showcase of MGP Distilling’s in-house blending skills.