The Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Join Forces for Star-Studded Whiskey Collection

(Photo: Few Spirits)

On Monday, Illinois-based FEW Spirits announced the rock-and-rollin’ return of three of its grungiest whiskeys to date.

The aptly named Icons of Rock collection will highlight past liquor collaborations with The Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Originally unveiled as annual limited-edition releases between 2022 and 2024, bottles in the collection are now being packaged as a trio at a suggested retail price of $149.99.

“I think the common thread between what we do at FEW and what these incredible artists do through their music is a willingness to chart your own course,” FEW Spirits founder and Master Distiller Paul Hletko remarked. “Sometimes, if not most of the time, that means going well against what everyone else is telling you to do. It’s that spirit of defiance and self-reliance that has always drawn me to bands like Black Rebel, Alice In Chains, and The Smashing Pumpkins.”

Details on each of whiskeys are as follows:

FEW The Smashing Pumpkins Bourbon, the most recently released of the collection, is a 93-proof bourbon cut to bottling strength with black tea rather than water. The tea was sourced from Madame Zuzu’s Emporium, a Chicago-based shop founded by Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and his wife, Chloé Mendel Corgan. The liquid is said to boast flavors of rose water, sandalwood, caramel and vanilla. Its decidedly rock-inspired label was designed by visual artist Katelan Foisy, who previously had a hand in creating the band’s stage backdrops.

FEW All Secrets Known serves as an homage to the first track on Alice In Chain’s fourth studio album, “Black Gives Way To Blue.” The bourbon was finished for six months in ex-tequila barrels and bottled at 50.5% ABV. Reviewers have commented upon its flavors of cherry, cocoa, lingering agave, oak tannins and licorice; it currently holds a Raided Score® of 84.

FEW Spirits Motor Oil is the most experimental of the bunch. Its three-part blend includes bourbon finished in rum barrels, bourbon finished in vermouth barrels and a mesquite-smoked wheat whiskey. Inspired in name and label by California’s Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the bottling holds an impressive Raided Score® of 92, the second-highest in FEW Spirits’ catalog.

The only musical collaboration missing from the collection is Brainville Rye Whiskey, released in 2016 alongside The Flaming Lips. Limited to an initial release of just 5,000 bottles, the rare expression was made from a mashbill of 70% rye, 20% corn and 10% malted barley aged in charred American oak barrels custom-made in Minnesota.

If you’re interested in blasting metal with whiskey in hand, find the collection here.