Rebel (bourbon)

Last updated
Rebel Bourbon whiskey
Rebel Yell.JPG
An older bottle still sporting the Rebel Yell brand
Type Bourbon whiskey
Manufacturer MGP Ingredients
Country of origin  Kentucky, United States
Introduced1936
Alcohol by volume  40%
Proof (US) 80
Related products Ezra Brooks, David Nicholson, and Blood Oath Bourbons

Rebel, formerly Rebel Yell until 2020, is a brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey owned and marketed by MGP Ingredients. Rebel Yell is currently distilled and aged at the Lux Row Distillery, in Bardstown, Kentucky, which opened in 2018. [1] As is typical for a bourbon, it is sold at 40% alcohol by volume (80 U.S. proof). Before the opening of the Lux Row Distillery, the brand was produced under contract by Heaven Hill at its Bernheim distillery in Louisville.

Contents

The brand was originally produced in the 1930s at the Stitzel–Weller Distillery and has a wheated mash bill, like some other brands from that distillery. As indicated by its name (especially its prior name), the brand was historically marketed as being associated with the U.S. Confederacy. Until the 1980s, it was distributed only in the Southern United States.

History

The W.L. Weller & Sons company was founded in 1849 by William Larue Weller, who pioneered using wheat instead of rye in his mash for a lighter flavor than the older style of bourbons. The W.L. Weller company merged with the Stitzel distilling company (est. 1872) to form the Stitzel-Weller distilling company in 1910.

The "Rebel Yell" brand was created at Stitzel-Weller in the 1930s with the idea of distilling it in limited batches for exclusive distribution in the Southern United States. Charles R. Farnsley, a former mayor of Louisville who was related to the owners of the distillery, owned the brand. [2] In the early 1980s, after some other changes of ownership following the break-up of Stitzel-Weller around 1972, the brand was purchased by the David Sherman Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri (now Luxco). By 1984, Rebel Yell was distributed nationally.

In 2020, in order to distance the brand from Confederate iconography, the name was shortened to simply "Rebel".[ citation needed ]

In April 2021, MGP Ingredients completed its acquisition of Luxco. [3]

Song inspiration

Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones was once known to be an avid drinker of Rebel Yell. In fact, Billy Idol has said in his episode of VH1 Storytellers that his hit "Rebel Yell" was inspired upon joining Richards, Mick Jagger and Ron Wood in taking swigs from a bottle of Rebel Yell at a gathering they all attended. He liked the sound of the brand name, and said he recalled that he actually asked if they (Jagger and Richards) had no objections to his use of the brand name for a future song title. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Dickel</span> Brand of whisky produced in the State of Tennessee

George Dickel is a brand of Tennessee whisky produced in Tullahoma, in Coffee County, Tennessee. Today owned by Diageo, the modern brand was introduced in 1964, though the distillery has a longer history. Whisky production and aging takes place at the Cascade Hollow Distillery, which offers tours to the public and is part of the American Whiskey Trail. George Dickel operates the second-largest distillery in Tennessee, selling 130,000 cases in 2013, while the largest is Jack Daniel's, which sold 11.5 million cases the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maker's Mark</span> Bourbon whiskey that is distilled in Loretto, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory

Maker's Mark is a small-batch bourbon whiskey produced in Loretto, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is bottled at 90 U.S. proof and sold in squarish bottles sealed with red wax. The distillery offers tours, and is part of the American Whiskey Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heaven Hill</span> American distillery company

Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. is a private, American family-owned and operated distillery founded in 1935 and headquartered in Bardstown, Kentucky, that produces and markets the Heaven Hill brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and a variety of other distilled spirits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ezra Brooks</span>

Ezra Brooks is a brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey owned and marketed by MGP Ingredients. It is primarily bottled at 40% abv or 45% abv.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo Trace Distillery</span> United States historic place

Buffalo Trace Distillery is a distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, United States, owned by the Sazerac Company. It has historically been known by several names, including the George T. Stagg Distillery and the Old Fashioned Copper (O.F.C.) Distillery. Its namesake bourbon brand, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon whiskey, was introduced in August 1999. The name "Buffalo Trace" refers to the ancient buffalo trackway that crosses the Kentucky River in Franklin County, Kentucky. The Sazerac Company purchased the distillery in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve</span> Brand of bourbon whiskey

Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve is the flagship brand of bourbon whiskey owned by the "Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery" company. It is distilled and bottled by the Sazerac Company at its Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve is often regarded as one of the finest bourbons in the world, and its very low production and high demand can make it extremely difficult to find.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luxco</span> American liquor producer

Luxco, Inc. is a privately owned producer and marketer of distilled beverages and liqueurs based in St. Louis, Missouri. It has been owned by MGP Ingredients since 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Bourbon Trail</span> Program to promote Kentucky Bourbon industry

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail, sometimes informally referred to as "the Bourbon Trail", is a program sponsored by the Kentucky Distillers' Association (KDA) to promote the Bourbon whiskey industry in Kentucky. The KDA has registered the phrase "Kentucky Bourbon Trail" as a protected trademark.

W. L. Weller is a brand of "wheated" bourbon whiskey. The brand was created by the Stitzel-Weller Distilling Company, and was sold several times after 1972. Since 1999, the brand has been owned by the Sazerac Company. It is produced at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Like all bourbons, Weller is distilled from a mash composed of at least 51% corn (maize). The secondary grain used for the Weller brand is wheat, whereas most bourbons use rye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Fitzgerald</span> Brand of wheated bourbon

Old Fitzgerald is a brand of wheated bourbon distilled in Louisville, Kentucky, by Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willett Distillery</span>

Willett Distillery Ltd, is a private, family-owned-and-operated company that produces bourbon and rye whiskey. Over the years, the company has bottled whiskeys that range from two years of aging maturity up to 28 years. The company was named Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD) between 1984 and 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellowstone Bourbon</span> Brand of whiskey

Yellowstone is an American brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey founded in 1872 and owned and marketed by MGP Ingredients. It is distilled by the Limestone Branch Distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sazerac Company</span> Alcoholic drinks company based in New Orleans, US

Sazerac Company, Inc. is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by billionaire William Goldring and his family. As of 2017, it operated nine distilleries, had 2,000 employees, and operated in 112 countries. It is one of the two largest spirits companies in the United States, with annual revenue of about $1 billion made from selling about 300 beverage brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willett Pot Still Reserve</span>

Willett Pot Still Reserve Bourbon is brand of a bourbon whiskey produced in Bardstown, Kentucky by the Willett Distillery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Ezra 101</span>

Old Ezra 101 is a brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey owned and marketed by MGP Ingredients. Is bottled under the name Ezra Brooks Distilling. It is charcoal filtered and typically bottled at 50.5% abv.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph & Joseph</span>

Joseph & Joseph is an architectural firm founded in 1908 in Louisville, Kentucky. The main services include architectural, engineering and design projects.

MGP Ingredients, Inc. is a distilled spirits and food ingredients producer with headquarters in Atchison, Kansas, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James E. Pepper</span> American whiskey brand

James E. Pepper is an American whiskey brand. The brand is named after a historic American whiskey maker with that name who built and operated a distillery in Lexington, Kentucky, and marketed his whiskey under his family's brand name "Old Pepper" and under his own name. The brand's distillery, known as the Henry Clay distillery and later as the Old Pepper distillery and James E. Pepper distillery, was shut down in 1958 and was left abandoned for more than 50 years until Amir Peay purchased the historic distillery site and relaunched the brand name in 2008. Distilling resumed at the site in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stitzel–Weller Distillery</span>

Stitzel–Weller Distillery is a former distillery located in Shively, a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1935, sold in 1972, and closed in 1992. It produced a number of notable brands, and since 2014 it has served as a public tourism site for Bulleit Bourbon, as part of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

References

  1. Luxco (July 23, 2018). "Lux Row Distillers opens on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail" (Press release).
  2. https://ohc.library.louisville.edu/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=1986_52_farnsley.xml Interview with Nancy Farnsley, November 14, 1984
  3. Carruthers, Nicola (2021-04-06). "MGP completes $475 million Luxco acquisition". The Spirits Business. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
  4. Warren, Craig A. (7 September 2014). The Rebel Yell: A Cultural History. University Alabama Press. p. 141. ISBN   978-0817318482. ... Idol explained that he came to use the title 'Rebel Yell' ... not because of any knowledge of the Confederacy but because of his enthusiasm for Rebel Yell bourbon.