Few Spirits has released a whiskey with no clear category. It’s a blend that marries three current offerings from the Evanston, Illinois-based distiller: Few Bourbon, Few Rye, and Few’s cherrywood-smoked single malt. The brand has decided to dub this interesting mutt “American Whiskey,” and who can argue with a name like that?
Few American Whiskey pours a deep, ruddy gold in the glass, and its primary aromas are of cherry, vanilla, oak, and sawdust with a touch of green pepper. It is light, silky, and even delicate on the tongue, with a quality not dissimilar to a crème. Its first flavors are of wood and cherry, plus a faintly vegetal green pepper. Caramel complemented by honey appears at the center just before it dries out, kicking up tannic spice and dry oak. Its finish is pleasantly dry without turning intense, and once the spice fades away, final notes of butterscotch and vanilla ice cream manifest as a wispy, dessert-like postscript.
For now, Few American Whiskey is only available in Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York. Which is too bad, because this impromptu marriage of bourbon, rye, and single malt is a delightful dram that’s at once comfortingly familiar and impossible to pin down.
★★★
Stats:
— 46.5% ABV
— $49.99
