FEW Spirits Cold Cut Bourbon 750ML is a 46.5% ABV (93 proof) bourbon from Evanston, Illinois, cut with cold brew coffee instead of water before bottling. Named World's Best Flavoured Whisky at the 2020 World Whisky Awards and a Gold medal winner at the 2023 and 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Cold Cut stands as one of the most decorated coffee-influenced American whiskeys on the market.Quick Facts: ABV: 46.5% (93 proof) | Origin: Evanston, Illinois, USA | Style: Coffee-Cut Bourbon | Distillery: FEW SpiritsProduction & HeritageFEW Spirits, founded by master distiller Paul Hletko in Evanston, Illinois, mashes, ferments, distills, ages, and bottles entirely on-site. Cold Cut begins as the distillery's flagship bourbon—built on a mashbill of 70% corn, 20% Northern rye, and 10% malt—then takes a sharp detour at the proofing stage. Rather than diluting the cask-strength spirit with water, Hletko's team introduces cold brew coffee sourced from Chicago's Passion House Coffee Roasters, amounting to roughly one cup of cold brew per bottle. Through experimentation, the distillery found that cold-brewed coffee carried far less bitterness than hot-brewed, allowing it to complement rather than overpower the bourbon's native grain character.Tasting NotesAroma: Dark roasted coffee emerges first, layered over spearmint and marzipan. As the glass opens, toasted oak and sweet green tea surface alongside caraway and coconut undertones.Taste: The entry is warm cinnamon and clove, supported by corn sweetness and a creamy mouthfeel noticeably richer than the standard FEW Bourbon. Mid-palate, hints of mint-chocolate, licorice, and blueberry develop, with black pepper and oak building structure. Coffee notes arrive gradually, intensifying sip after sip rather than announcing themselves upfront.Finish: Soft and approachable, with lingering roasted coffee and warm baking spice. The length is moderate, leaving a clean close that invites the next sip.How to Drink Cold Cut BourbonNeat or with a single large ice cube is the best way to experience the interplay between bourbon and cold brew—the coffee notes sharpen slightly as the spirit cools. Beyond sipping, Cold Cut is a natural cocktail ingredient: Espresso Martini riff: Replaces the standard vodka base with bourbon depth, reducing the need for added coffee liqueur. Old Fashioned: The built-in coffee character pairs with a demerara sugar cube and orange peel, adding complexity without extra ingredients. Black Manhattan: Swapping in Cold Cut for standard bourbon amplifies the roasted, bittersweet dimension alongside sweet vermouth and Amaro. Best For Gifting a whiskey lover who also happens to be a coffee obsessive After-dinner sipping as a dessert-course alternative Expanding a home bar with a genuinely unusual American whiskey Hosting a blind tasting focused on flavored versus unflavored bourbon perceptions Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat does Cold Cut Bourbon taste like? Cold Cut leads with warm cinnamon and clove over corn sweetness, while roasted coffee notes build gradually across the palate rather than hitting all at once. The finish is soft and approachable with lingering baking spice.How does Cold Cut compare to FEW Spirits' standard bourbon? Both share the same 70/20/10 corn-rye-malt mashbill and base distillate, but Cold Cut swaps proofing water for cold brew coffee, resulting in a noticeably creamier mouthfeel and layered roasted notes absent from the original expression.Is Cold Cut Bourbon good for cocktails? Cold Cut works exceptionally well in stirred cocktails like Old Fashioneds and Black Manhattans, where its embedded coffee character adds complexity without requiring an extra ingredient.Where is Cold Cut Bourbon made? Cold Cut is produced entirely at the FEW Spirits distillery in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb just north of Chicago. The cold brew coffee used in proofing is sourced from Passion House Coffee Roasters, also based in the Chicago area.What foods pair well with Cold Cut Bourbon? Dark chocolate truffles mirror its roasted coffee tones. Smoked brisket contrasts its sweetness with savory fat. Pecan pie echoes the corn-forward sweetness and toasted nut character. A cheese plate anchored by aged Gouda highlights the caramel and spice notes. Tiramisu reinforces the coffee bridge between dessert and spirit.What sizes does Cold Cut Bourbon come in? Cold Cut Bourbon is widely available in the standard 750ml bottle size.Is Cold Cut Bourbon worth the price? Cold Cut positions in the premium craft bourbon tier, and its multiple Gold medals—including World's Best Flavoured Whisky at the 2020 World Whisky Awards—support strong value relative to other specialty American whiskeys at comparable price points.Why Cold Cut Bourbon?The concept sounds gimmicky on paper—bourbon proofed with coffee—but the execution has earned validation from some of the industry's toughest competitions, including back-to-back Gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and a World's Best title at the World Whisky Awards. What separates Cold Cut from the crowded field of coffee-flavored whiskeys is restraint: the cold brew functions as the cutting agent, not a dominant flavoring additive, meaning the result is still unmistakably bourbon. As Whisky Advocate noted, "the effect is subtle and surprising." For drinkers who find most coffee whiskeys too sweet or too heavy-handed, Cold Cut occupies rare middle ground—a fully grain-forward bourbon with a roasted undercurrent that rewards repeated exploration.
