Remus
The 2025 Remus Gatsby Reserve bourbon was recently released, a 15-year-old bourbon bursting with notes of Cherry Cola. This Ross & Squibb Distillery release from Master Distiller Ian Stirsman has firmly established itself as one of the most highly-sought after and prized ultra-premium bourbons on the annual calendar.
This is the fourth year of the Remus Gatsby Reserve but this is a special year. It also marks the 100th anniversary of the publishing of The Great Gatsby, the iconic American novel that this bourbon pulls its name from.
I was able to find some time to speak with Master Distiller Ian Stirsman about what makes this year’s Remus Gatsby Reserve so special while sampling it myself. I’ve got the interview below for everyone to enjoy but first, let’s run through what is in the bottle real quick!
2025 Remus Gatsby Reserve
- A 15-year-old ultra-premium bourbon from Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana
- Cask strength, 102.8 proof
- A limited release with a suggested retail price of $199 per 750ml bottle
- Art Deco-inspired bottle and decorative clamshell box reminiscent of the 1920s
Now that we’ve got the basic stats out of the way, here is my conversation with Remus Master Distiller Ian Stirsman about the release of the 2025 Remus Gatsby Reserve. This is the first of the Remus Gatsby Reserve bourbons that I have had the good fortune of sampling myself.
Remus
Cass: Was there any additional pressure with the 2025 Gatsby Reserve as this year marks the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby being published?
Master Distiller Ian Stirsman: I think there’s always a little bit of pressure. But this year the blend came together pretty quick and I was in love with it so I wasn’t really worried too much about all that.
Cass: Roughly how long does the process take for the Remus Gatsby Reserve, from start to finish, pulling samples from barrels on up to the point of bottling?
Ian Stirsman: With the Gatsby Reserve especially, it is really years in the making because we don’t keep that many barrels to be that old. So you are really making the decisions for the Gatsby blends years in advance when you’re picking out which barrels to continue to age up. Versus like when we do the Remus Repeal Reserve Series we are picking out what’s good right now and that’s easy for us.
But I would say that over 50% or even 70% of the aging bourbon is not going to be really great at 15 years old. It will be over-oaked and tannic. So we are picking out which batches and barrels we are going to continue to let age and then once you’re there you are kind of there.
There are always tricks you can play. Blending back older barrels into regular products but usually the barrels that are over-oaked and tannic are not going to hold up on their own. But we are really good at blending into Repeal and other stuff. So there is a little bit of wiggle room once you get there (15 years), but it is usually all about making the right decisions in the previous years.
Cass: When a bourbon is holding up really well at 15 years, are you ever thinking like ‘maybe I should leave a little in there to see where this goes?’ and push it to 18 years or further?
Ian Stirsman: Most of the barrels that went into this year were actually from 2007 and 2008. They were a bit past 15 years old. And I was almost worried about getting to where I needed to actually drain the barrels a few months earlier than we needed because I didn’t want them aging anymore, right? When its ready, it’s ready.
Cass: When you are approaching the Remus Reserve, do you have a specific flavor profile in your head or are you just looking for the best aged bourbon in the warehouse?
Ian Stirsman: With Gatsby, it’s really just about creating something that is truly exceptional. We can’t vary it quite as much as with the Repeal. With the Repeal Reserve Series, I want to be intentional about making something really distinct and unique every year. With Gatsby, it’s all about ‘what are the best barrels we can age and create something that is truly exceptional.’ And if it’s close in flavor from year to year, that’s not really a big deal, or if they taste different. It’s really just trying to get the absolute highest quality of that aged bourbon that we can.
Cass: How do the characteristics of the ingredients in the mash bills present themselves differently from 10 to 15 years across the aging process?
Ian Stirsman: It is really difficult to say specifically just because every barrel is gonna be different. Typicaly, as the barrels get older, especially with the 21% (rye), they take on more of that like cherry cola flavor or like some people call it a ‘medicinal cherry.’
You try to get ones that have that kind of deep rich oak flavor and not the bitter tannic oak flavor that develops at that age a lot. But we’ve gotten phenomenal barrels at four years, and I think typically our sweet spot is six to 12 years, but different batches, different barrels, their sweet spot is always different.
We had a really exceptional batch a couple of years ago that was in our single barrel program, and I just went back to that batch a few days ago and it’s only seven years old now. It was actually better a couple of years ago, you know, at five years old in our single barrel program. You kind of get a feel for it and are able to make some guesses about where, when, and how things are aging and what is gonna continue to get better, what has reached its peak. But you’re not always right and it’s just a lot of feel and experience, not an exact science.
Remus
Cass: I always like to ask this question when talking about rare bourbons, but what is the perfect time and place to break open this bottle. Or rather, when would you be most likely to bust this out?
Ian Stirsman: I think whenever I have guests over it is something fun to reach for. The bottle looks awesome on the shelf. It lets your guests know that they’re special and that they’re in for something special if you are sharing that pour with them.
We usually have people over in the fall and have a little nice outdoor area and we have a fire, a project out in the backyard. That’s usually when I’m drinking this bottle with people.
Cass: What is something that might surprise someone who is a seasoned bourbon drinker when sipping the 2025 15-year Remus Gatsby Reserve versus another 15-year ultra-premium bourbon? What sets this one apart?
Ian Stirsman: I think that our distillery is very known for that ‘Cherry Cola’ flavor note that sometimes I even refer to as kind of a ‘Luden Cherry’ type of flavor. And I think this is maybe the best example of that. That flavor profile is on steroids with this expression to me. It’s very syrupy, cherry forward. Very rich and decadent and you don’t get any of those bitter tannins, and I’m pretty sensitive to that. It’s kind of that flavor profile that we’re known for with our older whiskey just amped up on steroids.
For more on Remus, you can visit their website here. And for more interviews and bourbon news you can visit the BroBible archives here.