Rob Rubens

“R6 Distillery”

Rob Rubens is an American entrepreneur and distiller best known as the founder and Head Distiller of R6 Distillery, one of Southern California’s earliest craft whiskey producers. Rubens was born in July of 1986 and raised in Chicago before relocating to California as an adult. Rubens grew up in a family with a deep entrepreneurial tradition. Stories passed down in his family about his great-grandfather, Claude Rubens, and Claude’s five brothers influenced him from an early age; those six Rubens brothers opened the Rubens Rialto Theatre in 1926, a business legacy that later inspired the name of his distillery—“R6”—as both a tribute to his great-grandfather’s surname and to the six brothers.

Before entering the beverage world, Rubens spent the better part of a decade in corporate America, working as a business consultant with strategy roles spanning industries including green energy, higher education, and healthcare. While that experience built his analytical and operational skills, Rubens later described it as unsatisfying, a “dark part” of his life that ultimately pushed him toward a more creative, entrepreneurial path. A decisive turning point came during a business trip to New Orleans: At the invitation of his sister-in-law, Rubens toured the Old New Orleans Rum Distillery, where he encountered distillation for the first time, firsthand. A welcoming rum and iced tea cocktail, the history and craft of rum making, and the distillery’s resilience in the wake of Hurricane Katrina together sparked what he later described as a “light bulb moment.” The New Orleans experience also transformed Rubens’s interest in spirits into a professional ambition. He began home-brewing beer and studying distillery operations, and he visited other craft producers, building his knowledge of fermentation, distillation, and grain-to-glass production.

Fast forward eight years, and in 2014, Rob Rubens founded R6 Distillery in El Segundo, California. R6 Distillery is a grain-to-glass, family-owned operation focused on small-batch spirits made from locally-sourced ingredients. The distillery’s ethos emphasizes authenticity: R6 strictly uses only the “hearts” of its distillate in finished spirits, eschewing shortcuts that compromise quality. And while R6 also produces a range of clear spirits, whiskey, especially bourbon, is a cornerstone of its output. Rubens’s R6 Blue Corn Bourbon Whiskey, aged in American oak barrels, has become one of the distillery’s standout expressions and routinely earns recognition in spirits competitions. R6’s bourbon production typically ages the spirit for at least two years in charred oak. The distillery also sometimes experiments with variations, including finishes or alternative barrels to explore flavor nuance. Beyond bourbon, R6 produces other grain-based spirits and seasonal releases, but its identity as a craft bourbon producer has helped position it among California’s early wave of artisanal distillers. 

Fast forward eight years, and in 2014, Rob Rubens founded R6 Distillery in El Segundo, California. R6 Distillery is a grain-to-glass, family-owned operation focused on small-batch spirits made from locally-sourced ingredients. The distillery’s ethos emphasizes authenticity: R6 strictly uses only the “hearts” of its distillate in finished spirits, eschewing shortcuts that compromise quality. And while R6 also produces a range of clear spirits, whiskey, especially bourbon, is a cornerstone of its output. Rubens’s R6 Blue Corn Bourbon Whiskey, aged in American oak barrels, has become one of the distillery’s standout expressions and routinely earns recognition in spirits competitions. R6’s bourbon production typically ages the spirit for at least two years in charred oak. The distillery also sometimes experiments with variations, including finishes or alternative barrels to explore flavor nuance. Beyond bourbon, R6 produces other grain-based spirits and seasonal releases, but its identity as a craft bourbon producer has helped position it among California’s early wave of artisanal distillers. 

Rubens has also emphasized service and community impact as part of the distillery’s mission. R6 has partnered with nonprofits such as Soldiers Best Friend, an organization that pairs veterans living with PTSD or traumatic brain injury with service dogs. In doing so, the distillery seeks to “improve the lives of veterans” in tangible ways beyond whiskey production. 

With what little free time he can make for himself outside the distillery, Rubens pursues a range of hobbies including hiking, skydiving, traveling, playing piano, and enjoying live music, balancing the creative exhilaration of whiskey-making with adventure and personal fulfillment.

In many ways, Rob Rubens’s story comes full circle at R6 Distillery. What began as inherited family lore about six brothers building something lasting has become his own expression of that same impulse—creating a business rooted in craft, independence, and long-term purpose. Rubens did not enter distilling as a hobbyist chasing trends; he arrived after deliberate study, personal dissatisfaction with conventional career paths, and a formative encounter with the history and resilience of American spirits-making. Because of that encounter, today, R6 stands as both a working distillery and a personal statement: that careful production, local sourcing, and patience still matter in whiskey. As R6’s barrels continue to age quietly in El Segundo, Rubens remains focused less on rapid expansion than on stewardship—of his product, his community, and the family legacy that first taught him the value of building something meant to endure.

Sources:

  1. Voyage LA Magazine, “Meet Rob Rubens of R6 Distillery”, August 13, 2019, voyagela.com/interview

  2. DistilleryProducts.com (Blog), “Rob Rubens of R6 Distillery”, Carson C., June 14, 2021

  3. R6 Distillery Official website/Our Story, r6distillery.com

  4. DistilleryNews, “R6 Distillery listing”, Dirk Jahn, December 19, 2023, distillery.news

  5. SoCal Restaurant Show (podcast), “Rob Rubens Founder…”, Adam Bell, January 23, 2021

  6. Los Angeles Times, “El Segundo’s R6 Distillery eyes expansion”, Stephanie Breijo, October 2, 2021

Contributed by Tracy McLemore, Fairview, Tennessee

***Editor’s note: - as of October, 2025, R6 distillery is no longer in business. Distiller Rob Rubens blamed the downturn in the craft spirits market for the distillery’s demise. R6 products are still available locally in the Southern -California area. Rubens’ future plans are as yet unknown.

R6 Blue Corn Bourbon