Paul Hletko, Founder & Master Distiller

It would take me months, if not years, to learn the various subtleties of the spirit. How Scotch Whisky is made from the same basic ingredients as whiskey here in the states and how there are a lot of domestic productions worth looking at. Most notably, an entire class of spirits, Bourbon, that would open a whole new world after years of adherence to Scotch.

Fast forward to today and my love of things domestic (I like supporting the little guy, even if they’re not truly little by size and just little by how much television advertising they’r
e able to buy!) and I recently discovered a distillery named Few Spirits.

Few Spirits is based out of Evanston, Illinois and was the first legal alcohol-producing facility in Evanston, a city that extended prohibition until 1972. Yeah… that’s forty years after Prohibition was overturned by the 21st Amendment at the end of 1933!

They ferment, distill, and bottle everything on-site. They don’t buy stuff elsewhere and then slap their label on it (they don’t buy any outside alcohol from other producers), everything is made there and is legit (to be fair, newer distilleries don’t have a choice necessarily… but FEW has been around for enough years that they can do this).

They were kind enough to send me a few of their products:

• Few Bourbon Whiskey
• Few Rye Whiskey
• Few Barrel Gin
• Few Standard Issue Gin
• Few American Gin

There was just one missing from their lineup, the Few Single Malt Whisky. It’s produced in much smaller quantities and not widely available but I did get a chance to sample five fantastic spirits so let’s talk more about what was included than what wasn’t!

I will skip tasting notes on the Gins for now because my experience with gin is extremely limited. But, that said, I can tell you that they smell wonderful, the flavors are all the botanicals you’d want from a well produced gin, but to get into the notes is beyond my experience.

As for the two whiskies… let’s dive right in.

Few Bourbon Whiskey

As a recent fan of bourbon, I can say that this Illinois product does the name quite well (and I love the classy bottles). The mashbill consists 70% corn, 20% rye, and 10% malted barley.

The thing that really jumps out at you is the spiciness. Most bourbons are characteristically sweet and that’s it. This bourbon has a little spice kick to it that adds a different dynamic because of 20% rye. There’s a bit of youth in this too but not something that surprises, I kind of like it.

I don’t usually put much stock in awards or ratings but it’s worth noting that the Beverage Testing Institute gave it a 93 (Exceptional) earlier this year.

Few Rye Whiskey

I’ve been getting into more whiskies that have a higher rye concentration because I just love the added complexity that rye brings. The mashbill for this spirit is 70% Midwestern rye, 20% local corn, and then 10% two-row malted barley (an exact flip of the bourbon).

The rye gives it that peppery kick again but you get a lot of caramel and honey sweetness, much more than you’d expect with 70% rye, and a nice finish. BTI gave the Rye Whiskey an 88 (Highly Recommended).

Before I go, I wanted to throw in a few notes about the gins too. On a recent trip to Amsterdam, I had the pleasure of enjoying some Jenevere. Jenevere is juniper-flavored and was the inspiration for gin, so I’ve started to appreciate the subtle floral flavors in many gins.

While I haven’t yet evolved into sipping gin neat, there’s nothing more refreshing on a hot day than a gin and tonic!

A couple weeks ago, I visited my sister up in Boston. Her husband, my brother-in-law, is also a big fan of whiskies, so we I had a chance to enjoy a few drams of his collection.

One bottle sitting in his case was the Glenlivet 15 YO French Oak Reserve. It’s not rare or hard to find, I just haven’t had a sip of it in years. I have a bit of a history with Glenlivet, seeing as the 12 YO was my first, and the last time I tried Glenlivet 15 YO French Oak Reserve was at the distillery itself.

We’d gone up to Scotland for a few days during a month-long vacation through Europe and visited both Glenlivet and Macallan. We’d tried to sneak in Aberlour and Cardhu too but time just wasn’t on our side.

We went on the Glenlivet distillery tour and at the end, they give you a few samples to enjoy. You had the option of choosing a glass of 12 Year Old and 15 YO French Oak. The tour was free, so this was a great bonus!

My wife chose the 15 Year Old French Oak and I chose the 12 Year Old, a familiar favorite. My wife isn’t much of a whisky drinker so in reality, I got both (she was also our designated driver… which was a smart choice).

Taking a sip of the French Oak Reserve brought back memories of our trip, which was a nice reminder, but it also reminded me that it’s a delicious dram on its own.

Tasting Notes

On the nose, you get a hint of tart green apples mellowed with some sugary molassas. There’s a bit of fresh fruit but no citrus, a little vanilla.

On the palate, there’s very much the vanilla and apple, hint of caramel, and then spicy finish of Glenlivet, though mellowed out considerably compared to the 12 YO.

Finish is nice, doesn’t linger though and reminds you that it’s been aged in oak.

It’s a 40% abv whisky with a lighter amber color.

It’s like a friendly, mellower version of the 12 Year Old and interestingly enough, my wife remembers the tour guide saying that the 15 YO is marketed directly to women.

I don’t really know what that means per se but I remember him making that comment as well.

Either way, it was a nice remembrance of a Glenlivet I haven’t enjoyed in years.

I received an email a few weeks ago from Innis & Gunn asking if I’d be interested in getting a sampling of their various oak-aged beers.

Heck yeah.

I love beer.

And I love oak.

This sounds like a match made in heaven.

Did I mention I love beer? 🙂

Since I mostly talk about whisky, here’s the rundown of my beer loving. I’m a fan of craft beer (I like supporting the little guy). I enjoy the occasional IPA, I love porters and stouts in the winter and a nice hefeweizen in the summer. If you put a Trappist beer in front of me, it’ll disappear (at an appropriate speed to enjoy it of course, but it’ll disappear), and I really enjoy the craft aspect of it. The tinkering and the diligent study. The perfection of the craft. You have to respect artisans and experimenters.

Fun side story, one of my friends from college, Abe, got me into homebrewing and so I really enjoy that aspect of beer. Funny enough, Abe was studying Math and Physics at Carnegie Mellon, which means he’s freaking brilliant, and now finds himself as the R&D Pilot Brewer at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co! They have yet to send me any experiments! 🙂

I’m not a beer snob though, I’ll drink almost any beer. The only rule I have is that I won’t drink a beer I drank a lot in college, which means cutting out a lot of Milwaukee’s Best, Natural Light, Natural Ice, Golden Anniversary, Olde English, and Keystone. Pabst Blue Ribbon is also in that list but I’ll have from time to time just for nostalgic reasons. And, of course, Bud Light is in my cup holder when I’m mowing the lawn or playing softball.

Back to the beer at hand, Innis & Gunn is a small brewery located in one of my favorite places in the world, Edinburgh Scotland. My wife and I visited Edinburgh a few years ago, during The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, so we’re biased. Anyway, their claim to fame is that they age their beer with oak chips.

In their particular process, they don’t age the beer in an oak barrel entirely, they chip the oak and then age it with an Oakerator process (which they created themselves at a cost of $150,000 at Herriot Watt University in Edinburgh). It gives them a way to impart a variety of flavors into the beer depending on the chips they use. So rather than having just one barrel imparting one flavor, they can have several and mix it in a way to impart different flavors. Definitely clever. (if you want to learn more, they explain the whole process here)

So they sent me three of their beers to enjoy – the Toasted Oak IPA, Rum Aged, and the Original. These are the three beers that make up their Favourites line-up.

The Original

The Original is a 6.6% ABV Scottish style beer that is a golden color and smells of malt and vanilla. There’s a hint of floral hops and bitterness but it’s mostly malt and oak. It’s very refreshing, has a medium body which makes it a great summer beer for me. The label says hints toffee but I don’t get much of it. The oakiness is nice (and easy to identify because I’m not used to it in beer) and the result of 77 days of oak maturation.

I tend to favor wines with a lot of oak flavor in them and this reminds me of that (except in a beer).

Rum Aged

First reaction was: wow. I’ve never had a beer like this before.

Once I got my surprise out of the way, the 6.8% ABV beer has a rich red color I haven’t seen in a long while (I haven’t had an Irish red in a long time but I can’t imagine a deeper and richer red than this). It smells great.

If I was given this in a blind taste test and were told its aged in a cask, I would’ve guessed rum or brandy. There’s a sweetness to it that is very rich, like molasses, and uncharacteristic of any type of beer. Even the high gravity beers, like Russian Imperial Stouts, that have a sweetness to them are unliked the rum aged.

The flavors are really fun, very fruity and a hint of spiciness. It’s a little heavier than The Original but not much. I don’t see myself drinking a lot of these in the summer but this makes for a great fall or winter beer for my tastes. Of the three, I liked this one the most.

Toasted Oak IPA

Weighting in at just “only” 5.6% ABV, the Toasted Oak IPA is tripled-hopped and aged in oak for 41 days. It comes in a brown bottle but it pours out this pale gold color and smells exactly what you expect an IPA to smell like. It tastes like an IPA too, a fresh floral hoppiness with a hint of vanilla and sweetness, probably from the oak. It’s hard to really get more than a hint because the refreshing hoppiness is very forward.

In terms of body, it’s light, as you’d expect from an IPA, and one that would make it a good beverage for the summer.

In summary, I was impressed.

The introduction of oak, especially in their Oakerator process, really makes for an intriguing (and different) flavor profile. The pricing is on the high side, $10-12 for a four pack at my local Total Wine, but I think they’re worth checking out just to see what oak aging can do with a beer. I’m not sure any are on the “absolute favorite” list, in terms of me wanting one always sitting in my fridge, but I wouldn’t be disappointed if they were. 🙂