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The Smashing Pumpkins are giving fans a new release to (ava)love with the launch of a new bourbon whiskey inspired by the band's iconic discography and iconography.
Dubbed 'FEW Smashing Pumpkins Bourbon', the new 93-proof bottling is a collaboration between the band and US distillery FEW Spirits, featuring a black tea flavor from Madame Zuzu's Emporium, the boutique tea shop run by the Pumpkins frontman, Billy Corgan and wife, Chloé Mendel Corgan. The accompanying bottle was designed by artist Katelan Foisy, who designed the inner album for Corgan's solo album, Ogilala, and has worked with the Pumpkins on stage sets for previous tours. Embossed on the back of the label is the lyric, “Time is never time at all,” from the band's hit single, “Tonight, Tonight,” from 1996. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
The accompanying liquid starts with a straight bourbon aged for four years, which is then cut to bottling strength using 'Midnight Rose' black tea from the Corgan Tea Shop. The finished product offers familiar bourbon notes of vanilla and caramel, balanced with hints of rosewater, sandalwood and black tea. Perhaps inspired by the band's diamond sale Mellon Collie album, the tasting notes say to expect “bright aromas” of “ripe melon” as well.
In addition to paying homage 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, mixing 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 from the band's first album, Gis, provided a ton of inspiration. Press play and you're immediately struck by those powerful, propulsive drums, which are joined seconds later by a tight bass groove before the guitars kick in to complete what, to me, is such a signature sound. That's the driving, yet symphonic quality we wanted to bring to this liquid.”
FEW Smashing Pumpkins Bourbon is available for purchase now at select US retailers and online. You can learn more at fewspirits.com. This is the latest musician collaboration from the distillery, which released a “Motor Oil Whiskey” with the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in 2022.
As for Smashing Pumpkins, the band is set to release with Green Day and Rancid this month. THE “tickets%2Fartist%2F736143″ target=”_blank”>Saviors tour» kicks off on June 29 at Nationals Park in Washington, DC and concludes on September 28 at Petco Park in San Diego.
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