At one point in my life, the Fourth of July weekend was my favorite time of year. I’m ethnically redneck, so there is a part of me that likes to “blow some shit up.” And I spent many a happy holiday weekend during my childhood and early adulthood doing just that. Once you add in the large fireworks displays, well, that was all it took for me to be happy.
These days though, I spend a lot of time as a dog sitter. This means that I comfort pets who are pretty sure that my neighbors have started a war outside. And as an empathetic human, it breaks my heart to see these poor pups so scared. But we try to make it calm and soothing, and fun to distract them from the chaos outside.
So though, I will never tell someone not to blow some shit up—because, damn, that’s fun—please be considerate of your local pets and also your local veterans who could also be suffering due to the noise as well.
Now onto the whiskey. I grabbed this one a while ago and have been sitting on it for a few weeks. As you will see below, my local liquor store had been sitting on it a for a while. That said, it is a wonderful example of a brand that we looked at back in 2021 for their Light Whiskey. As I stated back then:
Obtainium is a line of sourced whiskey from the Cat’s Eye Distillery in Bettendorf, Iowa, one of the five Quad Cities that span the Iowa/Illinois border (yes, there are 5 cities in the Quad Cities…I’d make an Iowa joke, but I’ll just leave it at that). In any case, these guys seem to be doing the sourced whiskey thing right.
What I especially like about the brand, other than never finding one bottle that wasn’t delicious, is that they give you as much information as possible about the whiskey. Back on that old Light whiskey, they named the predecessor of MGP as the distiller. On this one, they called out which MGP bourbon mash bill that is in the bottle. Just very cool transparency with these guys.
So even though it looks like they aren’t currently selling an Obtainium bourbon, let’s take a look at this so you can see if you are interested in picking one of their other products up if you run across it.
Obtainium Bourbon Whiskey
Purchase Info: I bought this at Viking Liquor Barrel in Prior Lake, MN, for somewhere around $50. I lost the receipt, so I can only get that close.
Details: Distilled 8-5-15. Bottled 1-30-21. Five years old. MGP 21% Rye mash bill. 53.4% ABV.
Nose: Sweet, caramel and vanilla, baking spices, and oak.
Mouth: Spicy cinnamon notes without being too hot. Caramel, vanilla, and a bright floral note.
Finish: Medium to long and warm. Finish follows the mouth with cinnamon, oak, and floral notes.
Thoughts: This is a good solid cask-strength bourbon for a decent price. And being a fan of MGP bourbon, that's a great combo for me. Being as this was bottled in early 2021 and isn't currently on their website, availability may vary. But I've liked everything I've bought from this line, and this is no exception. So if you see the brand, give it a shot.
Have a safe and Happy Independence Day. Come back next Thursday with all your fingers and toes, ok?
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