MGP Distillery began in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in 1847 as George Ross’s Rossville Distillery.1,2,3 Seagram bought it in 1933, and MGP Ingredients bought it in 2011.1,2,4 It mainly sells its spirit to various bottlers, and since 2012 it has supported more than 1,000 American whiskey customers.1,5,6 Its brands side took the Ross & Squibb Distillery name in 2021, and the plant took back the MGP Distillery name in 2026.3,5,6
In 1869 W.P. Squibb & Co opened the Squibb Distillery, another Lawrenceburg distillery.1,3 In 1919, with Prohibition looming, the Rossville Distillery began making industrial alcohol, which kept it going through the Prohibition years.1 In 1921 the bootlegger George Remus bought the Squibb Distillery in pursuit of the country’s finest bourbon reserves.1,2,3 Remus also had warehouses on the grounds of the Rossville Distillery.1,2,3 In 1932 a fire destroyed much of the plant.4
Seagram
1933–2001
Seagram’s 1933 purchase returned the plant, also called the Rossville Union Distillery, to whiskey.1,2,4 Seagram rebuilt it, called it the Jos. E. Seagram Lawrenceburg Plant, and put up buildings that still bear the Seagram name.7,8,9 It made Seagram's Seven and Seagram's Gin here, and the 95/5 rye mash bill, 95 percent rye and 5 percent malted barley, was born here.7,8,9
Pernod Ricard and Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana
After Seagram broke up and its assets were sold off piecemeal, Pernod Ricard bought the plant along with Seagram brands in 2001.8,10,11 On April 19, 2006, it announced plans to close the distillery in phases to cut unneeded capacity, which would have put about 400 workers out of jobs.8,10 Instead, CL Financial, a holding company based in Trinidad and Tobago, bought it in 2007 and renamed it Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana.8,11,12 That year Greg Metze, who started there in 1978 and rose from shift supervisor to distillation coordinator under Seagram, became master distiller.11
Sources disagree: the date. This page uses 2007.
MGP
In 2011 MGP Ingredients bought the distillery, but not the bottling plant beside it, through its subsidiary MGPI of Indiana.2,7,12 MGP also began to acquire the sites of Lawrenceburg’s past distilleries, such as William Squibb’s.1 In 2012 Diageo was the distillery's biggest customer.8 In April 2013 MGP added six new mash bills, or recipes, including a 95% wheat whiskey and a 100% barley malt whiskey.8,9,13 In October 2015 MGP began refitting old warehouses and building new ones on a 20-acre campus next to the plant, aiming to about double its barrel storage.14 Greg Metze left MGP in May 2016 after 38 years.
Next: MGP, Ross & Squibb, then MGP Distillery, Water, ageing and customers
After MGP bought Luxco in April 2021, Luxco gave the distiller of its brands the Ross & Squibb name, while MGP kept making customers’ spirits there as MGPI of Indiana.3,8 Ian Stirsman became master distiller of Ross & Squibb in February 2022.16 In April 2026, when MGP paused distilling at two other distilleries, it kept distilling here, its largest site.17 In September 2026 it took back the MGP Distillery name; its signature high-rye whiskey uses 60% corn, 36% rye and 4% malted barley.5,6 In October 2026 MGP Ingredients announced plans to rename itself Sempreon, with the new name to launch on November 2, 2026.6,8
Water, ageing and customers
MGP says its water comes from the Great Miami Aquifer, filtered by a limestone shelf under the site.1,2 MGP also says the local climate swings hard enough to move whiskey in and out of oak as it ages.1,18 Its 95% rye has been bottled as Bulleit Rye, George Dickel Rye and Templeton Rye, and Angel's Envy, Redemption and High West have blended its spirits.1,5,6
