Whiskey Review: Few Spirits Bottled in Bond Bourbon

We’ve reviewed quite a number of offerings by Few Spirits; however, it’s been a while. The other day I did my normal sweep of my local bottle shop, and saw Few’s Bottled in Bond bourbon sitting on the shelf, and thought… why not. It seems like as good a time as any to take it back to 1897 – when the Bottled In Bond Act was passed into law, becoming the first consumer protection law in the United States. 

History

• Behind the Barrels: Distillery Visit with FEW Spirits

Evanston, located just north of Chicago, was the birthplace of the temperance movement that spawned Prohibition in the United States. For nearly a century following the end of prohibition, the city continued to maintain some of the most restrictive laws regarding the sale and consumption of spirits, but all of that started changing in 2001.

Paul Hletko didn’t start out in the distillery business. Engineer, patent attorney, and rock and roll band member, Hletko took a rather unconventional route to the whiskey business. According to Hletko, the biggest inspiration for his turn to distilled spirits came from his grandfather, who owned a large brewery in Poland prior to the outbreak of World War II. His grandfather was forced to flee the country and spent the rest of his life unsuccessfully fighting to get it back. That determination and love for alcoholic beverages was a family tradition Hletko wanted to continue.

Between 2001 and 2011, Hletko was instrumental in getting the laws changed in Evanston to allow for alcohol distribution and production to resume. The path now clear, he opened his very own distillery called Few Spirits dedicated to doing things right: in-house production using local ingredients.

The FEW Spirits distillery was founded in 2011 in a small warehouse next to the train tracks and down a side alley in Evanston, Illinois. When asked about the inspiration for the name, Hletko simply responds that it was because “we didn’t make a lot”. They were a small craft distillery operating in the days before craft distilling was a common thing, buying second hand equipment wherever they could find it.

Product

• Learn More: What Is Bourbon Whiskey?

FEW Spirits’ Bottled in Bond Bourbon Whiskey starts as a dry mix of 70% corn, 20% rye, and 10% “two row” malted barley (which is a regional variety of barley). Given the small size of the distillery, FEW Spirits does not mill their grain on site. (Also… the fine grain powders that are produced during the milling process create an explosive risk. So there’s that, too.) 

The grain is mixed with some of Lake Michigan’s finest fresh water, cooked into mash, and then fermented in one of the massive tanks in the distillery. For fermentation, a specific form of yeast that’s typically used in the production of Saison beer (a typically lighter and crisper form of beer) is used. This yeast is 100% lab grown to ensure consistency in each batch.

The fermented mash is initially distilled on-site in their column without first filtering out the grains. Filtering may be common practice at other distilleries, but as the grain is heated some additional flavor can be introduced at the distillation phase. The second distillation is done in a hybrid still before the final distillate is barreled in charred new oak barrels and placed in a federally bonded warehouse off-site, where it sits for at least four years before being bottled.

Packaging

I’ve always liked the FEW packaging, even more so after I learned the amount of effort put into their branding.  As Hletko says, “people don’t buy liquor — they buy stories”, and the story they landed on for their branding was the 1893 World’s Fair, hosted in Chicago. This was a moment in time that not only saw a monumental amount of rapid change and innovation that they would pay homage to, but it was a place and time with a distinct style in which the folks at FEW Spirits could anchor their product lines. Not everything about the branding is obvious at first glance, and that’s by design: it allows people to discover the story behind the design choices and experience their product themselves, rather than having it spelled out for them.

I love the rectangular bottle. As I tend to have a number of FEW products in my cabinet at any given time, the packing density is great. Plus, it’s easy to hold and pour. And fun fact: it’s actually meant to mimic a deck of Bicycle playing cards – which were introduced at the Chicago World’s Fair (and are also reminiscent of the “involuntary investments” made by Paul’s friends at the poker table). 

As many of Few’s main product line do, this bottle pulls iconography directly from the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. In this case, the label features an image of The Republic, a statue created by Daniel Chester French. The statue stood 24 feet high and stood in front of the Court of Honor at the fair. The original statue was destroyed after the fair, but a 1/3^rd scale replica statue was crafted and stands today in Jefferson Park. 

Neat

The first thing I notice about this bourbon is the strong sweet aroma coming off the glass. There is a strong custard smell, along with caramel and cinnamon that I’d normally expect from a bourbon, combined with notes of strong oak and a wisp of smoke.

Much like you could pick up on the nose, the flavor of this bourbon starts very sweet. In fact, it almost reminds me of biting into a fresh Cinnabon: sweet sugary icing notes that most likely came across as a custard on the nose. I also get cinnamon and sugar, along with fresh baked goods. 

After the initial sugar shock of the sweetness wears off, I start to get notes of cherry and butterscotch being added to the mix. Near the finish, that sweet and fruity vibe is broken up a bit with elements of black pepper spice and old oak. Beneath all of those flavors is a mild earthly element that seems to pull everything together like a fine rug in a living room.

Like most of Few’s expressions, this is a very smooth bourbon that is eminently drinkable when taken neat. There is a reason I always keep some of their stuff around — and yes, it’s absolutely because they make a great sipper.

On Ice

Next up, as always, is our tasting on the rocks.

The first thing that is noticeable is that the strong custard and caramel flavor seems to mellow out into more of a straight vanilla. It’s a really great flavor… but in this case, the ice seems to cut down on some of the complexity that was so great when taken neat.

I also get a lot more cereal notes. When you sip this neat, you pick up just that hint of fresh Cinnabon flavor, but on the rocks I am reminded more of sugar-free corn flakes. Not really a flavor that I am searching for in my bourbon — but it makes sense given the grains that were used in the raw ingredients.

The cherry flavor is still very present and this makes me excited for the old fashioned. There is one surprise flavor that makes an appearance here and that is black walnut — I did not get any nutty flavors neat, and yet here it is on the rocks. It helps to round out a very different, but enjoyable flavor profile compared to sipping this neat. 

Cocktail (Old Fashioned)

At it’s core, the old fashioned is well balanced and delicious. The same flavors that we picked up in the bourbon on the rocks seem to shine through here: a great vanilla, cherry, and black walnut all bring a level of excitement to the cocktail. 

I may have poo-pooed the sugar-free corn flakes cereal when we tried this on the rocks, but it really works well here to balance the angostura bitters. The orange zest from the garnish brings a needed pop of flavors that really makes this cocktail complete.

It’s not an old fashioned that will wow you – but it’s a solid cocktail at its core. The bourbon makes itself known and helps to bring some depth to the drink.

I did try a second old fashioned, and this time used black walnut bitters. This really stepped up the drink — the nuttiness of the bourbon was enhanced by the bitters and gave the cocktail a much needed boost.

Fizz (Mule)

I don’t love a Kentucky mule — they are often too sweet for me. So I was understandably concerned that the Cinnabon flavors would exacerbate the situation here.

However, this bourbon does not seem to tip too far into the sweet end of the spectrum in a Kentucky mule. Don’t get me wrong, the ginger beer alone is often too sweet for me, but the walnut and cereal flavors seem to help bring some temperance to the cocktail. 

I’m impressed with any bourbon that can hold up to the ginger beer, much less actually shine against it, and I think this does just that. You can still pick out some of the more nuanced flavors of the bourbon (vanilla and walnut both come to mind), and the ginger beer and the sweeter elements of the bourbon are not fighting each other.

I think this might get my highest praise of a mule, which is: I don’t hate it.

Overall Rating

I’m torn. This isn’t a bad bourbon by and stretch; however, it’s not the best stuff that I have ever had from Few. They’ve set a really high bar for themselves, in all fairness. So you wouldn’t go wrong picking up a bottle — but you may be just as well off saving $10 and grabbing a bottle of their standard bourbon. 

This is a good all-around bourbon — it’s enjoyable neat, on the rocks, and in a cocktail. It does everything that you want a good bourbon to do. I’ve just been spoiled by FEW, and have grown to expect more when grabbing a bottle of theirs.

All reviews are evaluated within the context of their specific spirit classification as specified above. Click here to check out similar spirits we have reviewed.

Overall Rating: 3/5
It’s good, but I think there are a FEW better expressions.