Very sweet caramel popcorn | Cotton candy | Chocolate covered raisins | Light spice

Rye spice | Marshmallow | Honeydew melon | Kettle corn | Butterscotch | Raisin

Sweet-spicy mix | White pepper | Caramel chews | Warming | Medium length

Fortune’s Fool was founded by Juliet Schmalz, a former Anesthesiologist turned whiskey producer. True to its namesake, The Prelude is the company’s first release. A 10 barrel blend that was distilled in Kentucky, the rye was aged in oak barrels that were air dried for 24 months, a factor Fortune’s Fool highlights stating, “[The Prelude is] one of the only whiskey products on the market to be aged in the highest quality barrels from Napa Valley's Seguin Moreau Cooperage.”

The Prelude is a surprisingly sweet rye, with a slurry of sweet scents on the nose followed by warm, sweet underpinnings as it progresses to its conclusion. It layers in spice as you would expect for a rye, but manages to keep the spicy notes in check throughout the sip. At 32 months, it doesn’t come across as youthful or even grain-forward per se, but it doesn’t have the depth that comes with more time in oak.

The company has already laid out their plans for future releases, including a 4 year old rye and a 4 year old bourbon slated for January 2025, and a 4 year old wheated bourbon scheduled for January 2026. This suggests that The Prelude is a one-time release and that the company intends to release products at 4 years or more once barrel stocks reach maturity. At the (almost) 3 year mark, the whiskey is good in relative terms, and I’m excited to see how their future releases turn out as a result.