154 - "That Factory in Indiana" With Former Master Distiller at MGP, Greg Metze

The spotlight is set on the man who has made non-distilling producers famous. It's an exclusive podcast to the operations behind one of the largest distilleries in the world. Our guest spent nearly 40 years with that very famous Indiana distillery. It's safe to say, Greg Metze probably produced more bourbon and rye in a single year than some master distillers will in a lifetime once you hear about the size and scale of MGP. Show Notes: Let’s do what we all always do and start from the beginning. Do you remember your introduction into whiskey? Can you talk about your education and what led you into distillation? So lets look at your history at MGP Ingredients. What was your career path and trajectory there? The internals of MGPi aren’t discussed very much. How big is the operation there? What was the idea to distill all that rye before it became popular? Are there more spirits that were produced than others? What was the break out in bourbon vs rye being produced? Do you pride yourself in knowing that 90% of the Ryes and probably a good percentage of bourbon on the shelves of liquor stores is all from your work? How popular was contract distilling 10 years ago? Do you feel a bit angered or left out knowing there are tons of NDPs out there who are making a fortune telling a story about a rye that you created? Talk us through the process of selling to an NDP. Are they coming to MGP asking for juice? Is MGP coming to them first trying to sell them? Are there contracts that say you can or can't market a MGP bourbon or rye? Are there boundaries on how they market MGP juice? I'd like to know if they have ever had to turn someone away with either just buying sourced barrels or contract distilling? If so what is the pecking order or criteria? What are NDPs doing to make their product different or if it's all the same stuff? Are NDPs taking barrel from the same warehouses or how do they pick and choose? Did the whiskey boom hurt MGP getting rid of aged stocks? Lets talk about Old Elk in Colorado Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices