You've been on the Bourbon Trail, you've seen the gift shops, and frankly, you're tired of the hunt for a bottle that doesn't exist. If you're tired of chasing allocated bottles you’ll never see, welcome to the distillery that puts its effort into making accessible, high-quality whiskey. You know the score. We're here to talk about what's in the bottle, not the myth or the secondary market price. We skip the floral tasting notes that belong in a perfume ad ("ethereal whisper of angel tears" - seriously?) and get straight to the facts. You are exploring the world of Few Spirits products, and you need a guide that doesn't require a thesaurus.
Few Spirits is based in Evanston, Illinois. For those who enjoy a solid historical troll, this is perfect: Evanston was the headquarters of the Temperance Movement, the folks who gave us Prohibition. Few Spirits is now making high-proof hooch in the very backyard of the people who tried to ban it. That level of dedication to pettiness is something we can all raise a glass to.
They are a true grain-to-glass distillery, meaning they actually make the stuff rather than buying anonymous liquid from a factory in Indiana and slapping a cool label on it (looking at you, half the bourbon aisle). They use unique mashbills and aren’t afraid to get weird with their aging processes. We will deep dive into the nitty-gritty of their barrel char levels and master distiller secrets in a future post, but for now, let’s focus on the juice.
Here is the no-nonsense breakdown of the Few Spirits lineup, separated into the stuff you’ll see on every shelf and the weird stuff you buy when you want to feel adventurous.
These are the bread and butter. If you walk into a decent liquor store and they carry Few, these are the bottles you’re going to see.
This is the workhorse. While most Kentucky bourbons are corn-heavy and borderline cloying, Few goes a different route. They use a three-grain recipe that leans heavily into Northern rye.
The Taste:
It’s spicy. Not “I just ate a jalapeño” spicy, but “baking spice and pepper” spicy. The decent amount of malt keeps it smooth, stopping it from fighting you on the way down. You’ll find the required caramel and vanilla (it’s bourbon, after all), but the finish is dry and crisp.
The Verdict:
If you’re used to sweeter wheated bourbons, this offers a necessary bite. But if you like a bourbon with a backbone that stands up in a cocktail without disappearing, this is a solid pick.
Rye is having a moment, mostly because bartenders finally convinced everyone that Old Fashioneds shouldn’t taste like fruit punch. Few’s Rye is interesting because while it has a generous rye content, they marry it with enough corn to keep it from tasting like you’re chewing on a loaf of pumpernickel.
The Taste:
It’s surprisingly fruity—think apples, pears, and maybe a little plum—backed up by that signature rye pepperiness. It’s aged in air-dried oak barrels, which is their fancy way of saying the wood is seasoned to reduce harsh tannins.
The Verdict:
It’s an approachable rye. If you’ve been scared off by ryes that taste like grass and anger, this is the one to try.
This is where they start breaking rules. It’s not a bourbon, and it’s not a rye. It’s a blend of their bourbon and rye, plus a cherrywood-smoked malt whiskey.
The Taste:
Smoke. But not the “I’m licking an ashtray” peat smoke you get from Scotch. It’s a sweet, savory smoke. You get graham cracker notes, tart cherry, and a little white pepper. It’s complex without being confusing.
The Verdict:
It’s weirdly drinkable. This is the whiskey you pour for the friend who claims they “only drink Scotch,” just to watch them get confused and admit they like it.
This is where Few Spirits earns its reputation for not caring about tradition. If the standard Few Spirits products are the reliable sedans, these are the experimental concept cars.
This is the bottle that makes purists cry. Whiskey is usually distilled at a high proof and then watered down to “bottling proof” with water. Few looked at that process and said, “Water is fine. Cold brew is better.”
They cut this bourbon to proof using cold brew coffee.
The Taste:
It does not taste like a coffee liqueur or an espresso martini. It tastes like bourbon, but with a roasted, dark depth to it. The coffee adds body and a little bitterness that plays well with the corn sweetness. It’s rich, dark, and negligibly caffeinated (don’t expect a buzz).
The Verdict:
It sounds like a gimmick, but it actually works. It’s fantastic in an Old Fashioned or just over a large rock.
If coffee wasn’t weird enough for you, how about tea? For the Immortal Rye, they take their cask-strength rye whiskey and proof it down using cold-extracted “8 Immortals” Oolong tea.
The Taste:
This is a flavor bomb. The rye spice is still there, but it’s covered in layers of peach, honey, and dragon fruit. It’s exotic, strange, and incredibly distinct. It’s earthy and herbal, totally transforming the drinking experience.
The Verdict:
You will either love this or hate it. There is very little middle ground. It’s one of the most unique Few Spirits products on the market, and you owe it to yourself to try it at least once.
You know the difference between wheated and high-rye. You don’t need a history lesson. This is simply where we agree to set the fluff aside and focus on what a modern distillery is doing right, right now.
Look, we get it. You’ve done the work. But even an expert palate can be having an off day. The truth is, while your personal experience is king, relying solely on the back of a bottle or a solitary writer’s opinion (even one as brilliant as mine) is a gamble. One writer says Immortal Rye tastes like “dragon fruit and peach,” another might honestly get “wet leaves and sugar.” The goal isn’t to tell you you’re wrong; it’s to give you better data.
This is where OAKR comes in.
OAKR is the best bourbon sommelier app on the market because it stops guessing and starts analyzing. It doesn’t just give you a static flavor note; it aggregates tasting data from blind tasting panelists. It does the legwork to showcase what the majority of trained palates are actually picking up in the glass.
Instead of buying a bottle of Few Spirits products and hoping for the best, you can use OAKR to see the data visualization of the flavor profile. Does it skew spicy? Sweet? Oaky? OAKR tells you before you drop $50 on a bottle.
Plus, the app learns you. The more you use it, the better it gets at recommending spirits that fit your specific palate profile. It’s like having a drinking buddy who actually remembers what you like and doesn’t just recommend whatever is on sale.
Create your free OAKR account today and stop wasting money on whiskey you don’t like.
Few Spirits isn’t for everyone. If you want a traditional, by-the-books Kentucky bourbon that tastes exactly like everything else on the shelf, go buy one of the big heritage brands. There is nothing wrong with that.
But if you’re the type of drinker who gets bored easily and wants to see what happens when a distillery throws out the Kentucky rulebook, Few Spirits products are worth the shelf space. From their spicy, rye-forward flagship bourbon to the tea-infused madness of the Immortal Rye, they are making spirits with character and a clear point of view.
Just remember to use OAKR to vet them first. It’s the 21st century; we use data to date, we use data to drive, so we should probably use data to drink.
Login to OAKR for spirit profile flavor data, create your own lists and customize your palate to get custom somm recommendations on whiskey you’ll love.
