Smashing Pumpkins Release Signature Bourbon With Chicago’s FEW Spirits
Bourbon with Butterfly Wings.
Creative synergies crop up all the time in unexpected ways, but some just make perfect sense: Hard-charging rock n’roll and bourbon, for instance.
A shared Chicago home doesn’t hurt either, as FEW Spirits just teamed up with legendary rockers The Smashing Pumpkins on a bourbon that’s as distinctive as the band’s guitar-drenched sound.
Award-winning FEW Spirits leaned all the way into the sonic stylings of the multi-platinum, Billy Corgan-led group, and then some.
For starters, FEW cut the bourbon down to its final 93 proof strength using none other than Midnight Rose black tea from Madame Zuzu’s Emporium, run by Corgan and his wife, entrepreneur Chloé Mendel Corgan.
The music of the famed ’90s rockers was never far from the mind of FEW founder and master distiller Paul Hletko.
Music is an integral part of the FEW Spirits story, as the distillery has also released bourbon with the likes of California’s Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, along with along with an Alice in Chains-approved tequila-finished bourbon.
Rock n’roll has taken the greater bourbon world by storm in recent years, at least in terms of official releases: You can now score Motorhead-branded whiskey, and Metallica rather famously made waves in the whiskey world with sonically-enhanced Blackened Whiskey.
The diverse sonic palate of The Smashing Pumpkins’ storied career provided surprising inspiration in terms of whiskey-making craft, Hletko said.
“Whether you’re making music, painting, blending tea, or distilling spirits, you’re making art,” Hletko said. “As a Chicagoan, I felt a personal responsibility to match the raw, primal energy of the Pumpkins. Songs like ‘I Am One’, the opening track of the band’s first album, Gish, provided a ton of inspiration.
“Press ‘play’ and you’re immediately struck by these thumping, propulsive drums, joined seconds later by a tight bassline groove before crunching guitars kick in to round out what, for me, is such a signature sound,” Hletko added, noting that FEW aimed to capture that same “driving, yet symphonic quality” in the liquid itself.
FEW Spirits notes that the bourbon is, “like the band, a singular experience,” with rose water and honeydew melon aroma notes, followed by touches of sandalwood, vanilla, caramel and black tea (along with FEW’s signature bold, spicy yet sweet taste profile).
The collaborative, Chicago-focused process went a step further, as FEW Spirits worked with award-winning Chicago visual artist Katelan Foisy, a previous collaborator on stage backdrops for the Pumpkins and designs for Madame Zuzu’s.
It might just be the perfect addition to your bar cart if you happen to be gearing up to see Billy Corgan & co. onstage this summer, as FEW Smashing Pumpkins bourbon is now rolling out ahead of The Smashing Pumpkins’ forthcoming new single release.
Score it now for the agreeable MSRP of $50 online at FEW Spirits, make space in your bar cart and cue up “Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,” because the Pumpkins are ready to raise a glass.
