Iowa Spring-Summer 2022 - 10

The distillery has been operating out of a historic,
2,222 square-foot building built in 1910. In November
2021, the business broke ground on the new digs. The
6,000-square-foot facility is next to its current location,
which will continue to serve as craft cocktail
lounge, tasting room, and event area.
The new facility will house a fully equipped distillery
and a state-of-the-art production and bottling
facility.
" Our goal is to attract visitors from all over the
Midwest, " says Kyle Doyle, Iowa Distilling Company
president. " This expansion will allow us to keep up
with demand for an already growing call for something
that is local and unique. We are proud that we
can be something that Iowa can be proud of. "
Iowa Distilling Company
broke ground in November
on a new 6,000-square-foot
facility to supplement its
current 2,222-square-foot
building that dates to 1910.
CAT'S EYE DISTILLERY, BETTENDORF
Cat's Eye Distillery is on its second life-without having
expired Life #1. Cat's Eye owner John Baker joined
up with Gene Nassif to expand the portfolio and the
business. Nassif had an idea inspired by independent
bottlers in Scotland, who curate liquor made by other
distilleries and bottle them.
" When I first met with John, my idea was to do
that same concept, but with American spirits, " says
Nassif, " and then it eventually turned into world spirits. "
The curated spirits are bottled under the label
Obtainium, a play on the fact that the spirits are
obtained, not distilled, by Cat's Eye.
" We started with light whiskey, an underappreciated
category, " says Nassif. Obtainium presented the
13-year-old light whiskey to consumers to enjoy-and
to learn about. Light whiskey, distilled to 160 proof
or above, is more like a grain neutral spirit than a
typical whiskey. It is aged, briefly, in used barrels,
meaning much of the char flavors have already been
surrendered. The style was introduced in the 1970s
to compete with vodka. It quickly fizzled as a standalone
spirit, though some is still used for blending.
After that release, says Nassif, the business took
off. They've sourced barrels of rye from Poland, rum
from Barbados and Jamaica, French Armagnacs,
bourbons and rye from Indiana and a Canadian corn
whiskey. He speaks of blending different styles of
whiskey for additional profiles-like the bourye, bourbon
and rye category. Some of the liquors they bring
in are ready to be bottled immediately, while others
need a little more aging.
" The entire idea is to find these unique and rare
spirits from all over, bring them to Iowa, and bottle
them and present them to consumer in a way that
they understand what's in the glass. "
10 IOWA SPIRITS
Iowa Spring-Summer 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Iowa Spring-Summer 2022
