You have the recommendation of a very good friend to thank for tonight’s whiskey. Because, when he recommended it I knew nothing about the brand and i would have looked right past a bottle with Light Whiskey emblazoned crossed the label. Luckily for me, I trust this guy’s taste in whiskey and immediately ran out and bought a bottle.
Now why would I have walked past a light whiskey? What even is a light whiskey? Well, let’s consult the Code of Federal Regulations/Standards of Identity and see what they have to say.
(3) “Light whisky” is whisky produced in the United States at more than 160° proof, on or after January 26, 1968, and stored in used or uncharred new oak containers; and also includes mixtures of such whiskies. If “light whisky” is mixed with less than 20 percent of straight whisky on a proof gallon basis, the mixture shall be designated “blended light whisky” (light whisky—a blend).
So in essence, light whiskey distillate is made from a grain mash and is somewhere between straight whiskey (distilled lower than 160° proof) and neutral grain (distilled at 190° proof). There is some grain flavor left in it, but not as much as you’d have in a bourbon. Which is why I probably would have passed this by. I like flavor. It is one of the reasons I like bourbon and rye more than vodka.
So what do we know about this particular light whiskey?
Well the brand name is Obtainium, a new label here in Minnesota. 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. Printed right on the side of the bottle is “Distilled on 12/13/2006 by Lawrenceberg Distillers Indiana.” It isn’t very often that you see a sourced whiskey call out their supplier. And I, for one, really appreciate that. So since LDI was the former name of MGP, we know that this is a 14 year old MGP Light Whiskey. And because we know that, we know that the mash bill is 99% corn and 1% malted barley. We also know that this bottling doesn’t have the up to 19% straight whiskey blended into it as this particular bottling was a store single barrel pick by Zipps Liquors in Minneapolis.
So, a 14-year-old single barrel MGP whiskey at barrel strength? I’m very glad that i got this recommendation.
Obtainium Light Whiskey-Zipps Liquor Pick
Purchase Info: $54.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Zipps Liquor, Minneapolis, MN.
Price per Drink (50mL): $3.67
Details: 69.7% ABV. 14 years old. Barrel#: SC-00094. Distilled by Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana (now MGP) on 12/13/2006. Bottled on 2/5/2021.
Nose: Beautifully sweet toffee and chocolate.
Mouth: Hot and sweet. Toffee, chocolate, nuts and nutmeg.
Finish: Hot and long. The heat fades quickly though leaving behind notes of nutmeg, ginger, mint and toffee.
Thoughts: I really, really like this. It reminds me of some of the really good Canadian whiskies that I've had. It is super sweet and dangerously drinkable when served neat. A little water brings out even more sweetness and lowered the heat levels a bit. I'm going to have to take a look at some of the other offerings from this brand. Stay tuned.
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