FEW Spirits 6yo 2016/2023

FEW Spirits 6yo 2016/2023

#5, The Heart Cut
Single rye - Illinois
Amber red
50% ABV
Dram

Nose: Peaches, golden syrup, honey, vanilla, dried raspberries, hints of milk chocolate. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, expands, loosens slightly, tingly.
Tasting:  Sweet salty. Peaches, brown butter, vanilla, brown paper, cloves, milk chocolate, cinnamon. 
Finish: Medium. Cream, golden syrup, milk chocolate, black pepper. 

Comments: 

Rather sweet and milky, lots of buttery chocolate notes. Very lactic especially on the finish, but it’s not sour, rather creamy instead. Enjoyable distillate, a good couple of layers of flavour.

Verdict:

I like this.

SMWS B4.4 (FEW 5yo 2016/2020)

SMWS B4.4 (FEW 5yo 2016/2022)

2022, SMWS
Single bourbon - Illinois
Amber red
64.1% ABV
Dram

Nose: Honey, pear drops, vanilla, white pepper, brown paper. With water, honey, cherries, white pepper, cinnamon. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, warm, mouth coating, tingly. 
Tasting:  Sweet salty. Pear drops, cough syrup, cherries, fresh cut grass, brown paper, white pepper, honey, popcorn. With water, fresh cut grass, honey, cherries, popcorn. 
Finish: Long. Cherries, cough syrup, fresh cut grass, raisins. 

Comments: 

Intense and sweet, lots of cough syrup like notes. It turns herbal and nutty with a bit of water. Another distillery I’ve not managed to sample in a while. Must search out more. 

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

FEW Delilah's 23rd Anniversary Bottling

FEW Delilah's 23rd Anniversary Bottling

Official bottling
Single malt - Illinois
Dark amber
50% ABV
Dram

Nose: Caramel, cinnamon, cloves, white grapes, raisins, hints of white chocolate. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, loose, volatile, airy. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Cloves, raisins, vanilla, white chocolate, pears, red wine. 
Finish: Medium. Red wine, pears, white tea, cloves, white chocolate, jasmine. 

Comments: 

Not your usual bourbon, and a rare bottling to boot. This doesn't have the highly sweet, fragrant banana notes in most bourbons, instead it's spicy and slightly bitter, even tannic. This is really good whisky.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.

Koval Bourbon

Koval Bourbon

Official bottling
Single bourbon - Illinois
Copper
47% ABV
Dram

Nose: Bananas, coconut water, lemon juice, caramel, vanilla ice cream, hints of cardamom. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, slippery, loose, turns watery around the edges. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Bananas, coconut water, caramel, brown paper, red grapes, hints of cucumbers. 
Finish: Long. Cucumbers, red grapes, raisins, hints of white pepper. 

Comments: 

I've been chasing this one for a while, trying to round out my tasting notes of Koval. It's unusual, like its siblings - there's the usual banana, of course, then it's overtaken by unusual spicy notes, almost like a sherried rye. Good whisky.

Verdict:

I like this.

Koval Four Grain Whiskey

Koval Four Grain Whiskey

Official bottling
Single blend - Illinois
Amber
47% ABV
Dram

Nose: Pear drops, magic marker, rolled oats, hay, hints of green tea. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens, slightly sticky, mouth coating. 
Tasting: Salty. Sea salt, rolled oats, vanilla, salt caramel, green tea, hints of cooked rice. 
Finish: Medium. Cucumber, rolled oats, cooked rice, hints of green tea. 

Comments: 

Made from oats, malted barley, rye and wheat. The rye and oats overpower any barley flavour, I think. There's a hint of vanilla, courtesy of the charred oak barrels this is aged in, then a very welcome hit of fresh cucumber in the finish. Unusual, and superb.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.

Koval Single Barrel Millet Whiskey

Koval Single Barrel Millet Whiskey

Official bottling
Single millet - Illinois
Dark gold
40% ABV
Dram

Nose: Smoked ham, cherries, orange peel, fresh baked bread, pears, hints of smoke. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, loose, turns watery, slippery. 
Tasting:  Bitter sweet. Cherries, iron filings, leather, fresh baked bread, hints of smoke. 
Finish: Medium. Fresh baked bread, malted grains, vanilla, pears. 

Comments: 

A millet whiskey! Thanks to Eddy and Patrick for letting me sample this. Meaty, metallic, but plenty of fruit and cereal. Unusually soft and rounded (is this what millet whisky is like?). Highly enjoyable, tasty and gentle.

Verdict:

I like this.

SMWS B4.2 (FEW 3 yo 2012/2016)

SMWS B4.2 (FEW 3 yo 2012/2016)

2016, SMWS
Single bourbon - Illinois
Amber
61.3% ABV
Dram

Nose: Bananas, black tea, golden syrup, cloves, hints of liquorice. With water, sandalwood, oak, chocolate. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, tingly, slippery, slightly astringent. 
Tasting:  Bitter sweet. Black tea, brown paper, cloves, golden syrup, chocolate, hints of chillies. With water, more bitter, black tea, dark chocolate, cherries. 
Finish: Long. Cloves, liquorice, black tea, vanilla. 

Comments: 

More single cask bourbon! This one is spicy, and less bananary at cask strength, Gorgeously sweet, plenty of fruit, and slightly bitter. Good complex flavours, there should be more bourbon like this. I'd pay for it, and you should too.

Verdict:

I like this.

SMWS B4.1 (FEW 3 yo 2012/2016)

SMWS B4.1 (FEW 3 yo 2012/2016)

2016, SMWS
Single bourbon - Illinois
English breakfast tea
62.6% ABV
Dram

Nose: Dried mangoes, red grapes, black peppers, blackcurrants, cola nuts, liquorice. With water, strawberries, bubble gum, pears. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, sticky, tingly, thickens. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Blackcurrants, dried mangoes, chillies, cola nuts, dandelion and burdock. With water, less spicy, pears, bubble gum, bananas, brown paper. 
Finish: Medium. Dandelion and burdock, dried mango, ginseng, hints of bananas. 

Comments: 

Whew! Cask strength bourbon is really something, and you do need to dilute it a little. But clearly when you make bourbon 40%, it loses something. This little whisky shows why. It's intensely fruity and spicy, and doesn't show any of the usual banana notes until some water goes in.

Verdict:

I like this.

FEW Rye Whiskey

FEW Rye Whiskey

Official bottling
Single rye - Illinois
Amber
46.5% ABV
Dram

Nose: Apples, pears, cream, brown paper, rose, hints of plums.
Mouthfeel: Light body, static, turns slightly watery, smooth.
Tasting: Sweet sour. Pears, cream, cinnamon, rose, plum, hints of brown paper.
Finish: Long. Roses, pears, plums, brown paper.

Comments:

Deceptively simple, this whisky is fruity and floral, displaying little of the spicy rye. Maybe there's just more corn in this one's mash bill. I really enjoyed it however, the fruit and the floral note (there's really just one I think) complement each other marvellously well. There's something to be said for small craft distilleries that believe in their product.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.

FEW White Dog

FEW White Dog

Official bottling
Single bourbon - Illinois
Colourless
40% ABV
Dram

Nose: Corn, sour cream, magic marker, soor plooms, hints of lemons.
Mouthfeel: Light body, airy, fizzy, astringent.
Tasting: Bitter sour. Lemons, corn, sour cream, malted grains, magic marker.
Finish: Short. Lemons, malted grains, corn, burnt plastic.

Comments:

This is unaged whisky, what Americans call 'white dog'. It's basically spirit straight off the still, watered and bottled. Maybe they shouldn't have watered this. It's not quite strong enough to be complex and interesting, and not quite weak enough to have shrugged off that scent of burnt plastic. Nevertheless, it's tart and slightly milky, and there's a lot of corn and barley in it. Interesting experiment, but I feel whisky really needs to be aged.

Thanks to Kevin at the BE for a splash in a glass.

Verdict:

I like this.

FEW Bourbon

FEW Bourbon

Official bottling
Single bourbon - Illinois
Amber rose
46.5% ABV
Dram

Nose: Strawberry yoghurt, golden syrup, butterscotch, bananas, orange juice, hints of watermelon.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, sticky, static, warming.
Tasting: Sweet. Strawberry yoghurt, watermelons, orange juice, golden syrup, butter, hints of white grapes.
Finish: Short. Butterscotch, white grapes, watermelons, brown paper.

Comments:

Sweet and milky, nice tangy hints of watermelon shot through the whisky. This is craft bourbon from Illinois, another testament to the good work being done by distillers throughout the USA. No age statement, tastes fairly young, but even in that short time it's aged very well. Yum.

Verdict:

I like this.