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The Smashing Pumpkins are giving fans a new release to (ava) adore, with the launch of a new bourbon whiskey, inspired by the band’s iconic discography and iconography.
Dubbed the “FEW Smashing Pumpkins Bourbon,” the new 93-proof bottling is a collaboration between the band and U.S. distillery FEW Spirits, with a flavor cut with black tea from Madame Zuzu’s Emporium, the boutique tea shop run by Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and wife, Chloé Mendel Corgan. The accompanying bottle is designed by artist Katelan Foisy, who designed interior album art for Corgan’s solo album, Ogilala, and has worked with the Pumpkins on stage backdrops for previous tours. Etched on the back of the label is the lyric, “Time is never time at all,” taken from the band’s hit single, “Tonight, Tonight”, from 1996’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
FEW Spirits
The accompanying liquid starts with a straight bourbon that’s aged for four years, that’s then cut to bottling strength using “Midnight Rose” black tea from Corgan’s tea shop. The finished product offers familiar bourbon notes of vanilla and caramel, balanced by hints of rose water, sandalwood and the black tea. Perhaps inspired by the band’s diamond-selling Mellon Collie album, the tasting notes say to expect “bright aromas” of “ripe honeydew melon” as well.
Aside from paying tribute to the band’s catalog, the new bourbon release also honors the shared Chicago roots of Corgan and FEW Spirits’ founder and master distiller Paul Hletko.
“Whether you’re making music, painting, blending tea, or distilling spirits, you’re making art,” Hletko says, in a release. “As a Chicagoan, I felt a personal responsibility to match the raw, primal energy of the Pumpkins.”
Adds the longtime Pumpkins fan: “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. That’s the driving, yet symphonic quality we wanted to bring to this liquid.”
The FEW Smashing Pumpkins Bourbon is available to purchase now at select retailers across the U.S. and online. You can find out more at fewspirits.com. This is the latest musician collaboration from the distillery, which released a “Motor Oil Whiskey” with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in 2022.
As for the Smashing Pumpkins, the band is set to hit the road with Green Day and Rancid this month. The “Saviors Tour” kicks off June 29 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. and wraps up Sept. 28 at Petco Park in San Diego.