Awarded a gold medal by the Beverage Tasting Institute in 2014, the FEW Bourbon is a high-rye bourbon from Illinois that uses a ‘special peppery yeast’ to give it a little something extra to bring up the spice level and add a new dimension to the whiskey. It’s also aged in, relatively, young Minnesota oak barrels which it seems lends a peculiar and unique herbal quality to the bourbon that isn’t unpleasant, but it sure is different.Few Bourbon bottle shot

Based out of Evanston, IL FEW takes it name from Frances Elizabeth Willard who was the co-founder of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. The WCTU was a key player in establishing the national Prohibition and is also based out of Evanston. Though the name isn’t the only thing they get from their home in Illinois. Each bottle is adorned with images of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition which was held in Chicago after it’s devastating fire and when it comes to their ingredients they try to keep it as local as possible there as well.

To quote their founder and master distiller Paul Hletko ‘If we can’t grow it ourselves, we buy it locally and if we can’t buy it locally we buy it from friends.’ Which according to FEW means that all of the grains used in their products are ‘grown less than 100 miles from the distillery and many other ingredients are sourced from even closer’. They strive to make all of their products a unique representation of the area they’re from’¦ and it shows. These guys are definitely among the few doing craft distilling right.