Whiskey Advent Calendar Tasting: Few Rye

This is part of my series on tasting notes from the 2021 Drinks By The Dram Bourbon Advent Calendar.

Whiskey for December 6th, 2021: Few Rye

The distillery

A new craft distillery from 2011 that's based in Evanston, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. They make Gin and a variety of whiskeys including rye, bourbon, and american whiskey. Few was founded by Paul Hletko.

The whiskey

Few doesn't give a lot of details about their spirits. We get the following as a description:

The generous rye content is married with the sweetness of corn for a genteel interpretation of the venerable spirit. patiently aged in air-dried oak barrels, its spicy character transcends mere resurgence. Behold – the renaissance of rye.

Look

This rye has lovely dark red tones, it has plenty of clarity, but is dark and almost murky because of it. One of the first really dark-colored whiskeys I've had from this calendar. The body has a lot of sticky glycerine and is slow to make legs. It actually tends to form sheets.

Nose

The nose has lots of firey cinnamon and dark fruits. It's sweet and bold with a lot of alcohol. I'm surprised how little rye spice shows up on the nose.

Taste

Surprisingly sweet and spicy! The front starts a little sweet with lots of rye spice and the middle finished with and astonishing brown sugar and vanilla sugar bomb. The whiskey finishes long and spicy with leather and tobacco. Cinnamon permeates the entire taste from start to finish.

After water

Adding some water mostly just tamps down the alcohol smell. It stays largely the same with cinnamon and fruit. Lemon notes sneak up around the edges. The taste stays largely the same, but it lets the sweetness come through really clear.

Summary

I love this whiskey. I would absolutely buy this if I were looking for a sweet and spicy rye. This would be an excellent base for a cocktail that would benefit from that sweetness popping through. I would love to try this in a Sazerac.