Warehouses of whiskey are being distilled and aged at MGP in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. For some traditionalists, this seems egregious—that some bourbon and whiskey brands are not distilling and aging on their own. But it does allow for some interesting comparisons among the brands that take the MGP whiskey and go on to age it in their own warehouses. It also gives rise to some one-time spirits that might not otherwise get made.
While the distillery has begun releasing its own whiskey under the label George Remus, most of the distillates are just waiting for someone to show up with a witty name and a comely label, bottle it, and hopefully be transparent about its Midwestern beginnings. No amount of marketing is going to hide an inferior product, but, fortunately, the majority of whiskey produced at MGP meets the threshold for quality.
Mic.Drop. Straight Bourbon Whiskey ($100), from Brooklyn-based PM Spirits, has arrived on the scene with an attention-grabbing moniker and a pretty face (the label was designed by comic book artist Chris Batista)—ripe for becoming beloved by hipsters and cult-brand connoisseurs. The curious name has its origins with PM Spirits founder Nicolas Palazzi, when he witnessed a friend trying to convince his daughter to drop her toy microphone—in case you were wondering.
This 8-year-old bourbon was distilled in 2009 at MGP from a mash bill of 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and 4 percent malted barley. It was bottled at cask strength (112 proof) and tastes of vanilla, fruit leather, and burnt marshmallow. The bourbon distinguishes itself by its age—it’s much more interesting than the younger 2- to 3-year-old whiskeys from MGP that other brands bottle and sell. Those whiskeys aren’t bad, but the character of the liquid doesn’t really start to develop until about 6 years in.
You won’t be seeing Mic.Drop. again—it is one of those singular releases made possible by a central whiskey warehouse such as MGP. Only 20 casks were available for bottling. So when the 3,358 bottles are gone, the whiskey will have left this mortal coil for good—but it will have made some noise on the way.
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