Rebel Bourbon

Rebel Bourbon carries a name that traces to 1936 and a mash bill that traces further still, to a formula W.L. Weller & Sons pioneered in 1849: wheat in place of rye, softening the grain profile without softening the proof. Today the brand is distilled at Lux Row Distillers in Bardstown, Kentucky, and owned, as of July 2026, by MGP Ingredients.

History & Heritage

The Rebel name (originally Rebel Yell) was created in 1936 at the storied Stitzel-Weller Distillery, built on the wheated bourbon tradition that Stitzel-Weller itself inherited from W.L. Weller & Sons. When Stitzel-Weller broke up in the early 1970s, the brand passed through a series of owners before the David Sherman Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri, acquired it in the early 1980s; that company later became Luxco. By 1984, Rebel Yell had national distribution. For years afterward, with no distillery of its own, the brand was produced under contract by Heaven Hill at its Bernheim distillery in Louisville. That changed in spring 2018, when Luxco opened Lux Row Distillers in Bardstown, giving the brand a home of its own for the first time since Stitzel-Weller. In 2020, the company shortened the name from "Rebel Yell" to "Rebel" to distance the brand from Confederate iconography carried in the old name. The following year, in April 2021, MGP Ingredients completed its acquisition of Luxco. Luxco now operates as MGP's Brands Division, managing Rebel alongside MGP's other spirits brands.

The Whiskey

Rebel Bourbon is distilled by Master Distiller John Rempe at Lux Row Distillers, a facility built around a 43-foot custom copper still and six barrel warehouses. The bourbon runs on a wheated mash bill of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley, then rests in new charred white oak barrels. The core lineup centers on Rebel 100 Straight Bourbon Whiskey, bottled at 100 proof, alongside Rebel Straight Bourbon Whiskey Cask Strength, drawn from a single barrel and bottled at full barrel proof with no water added. Age-stated releases include the Rebel 10-Year Single Barrel, bottled one barrel at a time at 100 proof after a full decade in wood, and the Rebel 100 6-Year Bourbon. Rebel Small Batch Reserve steps the proof up further, blended from a small selection of hand-picked barrels and bottled at 110 proof. The brand also runs limited and flavored expressions, including the Rebel Kyle Busch 108 Single Barrel, hand-picked by the NASCAR driver and bottled at 108 proof, plus Rebel Root Beer Whiskey and Rebel Butter Pecan Bourbon Cream.

Why It Matters

Rebel has built a genuine competition record, not just marketing copy. The Rebel 10-Year Single Barrel alone has picked up a run of honors: Single Barrel American Whiskey of the Year at the 2025 Bartender Spirits Awards, a Double Platinum medal at the 2025 ASCOT Awards, Double Gold at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and a Double Gold plus Consumer's Choice Award at the 2025 SIP Awards. It was also named the World's Best Single Barrel Bourbon Whisky and Best Kentucky Single Barrel Bourbon at the 2020 Whisky Magazine World Whiskies Awards, following an appearance on Whisky Advocate's Top 20 Whiskey list in 2017. Rebel 100 has drawn its own recent haul, including Double Gold and a Consumer's Choice Award at the 2025 SIP Awards and Gold at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and carries a 93-point score from Whisky Advocate. For those who appreciate good whiskey, the wheated mash bill and the barrel-proof and single-barrel expressions give Rebel real range, from an easy-drinking 100-proof pour to cask-strength bottlings built for someone who wants the whiskey unadjusted.

Visiting the Distillery

Lux Row Distillers offers guided tours with a tasting, Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm. Reservations are strongly recommended. Guests under 21 are welcome in the Visitor Center and on standard Production Tours but cannot take part in tastings, and the distillery offers a discount for active military and veterans on standard tours.