Seth MacFarlane is a Hollywood Renaissance man—actor, director, producer, writer, singer and now partner in an American whiskey brand that you’ve likely never heard of. But MacFarlane is set on making Bear Fight American Single Malt Whisky a household name in his new role as “chief storyteller” for the brand.
Of course, there’s some business involved as well, and MacFarlane is also a brand stakeholder in this new whiskey that launched this past May. The company behind the liquid is Next Century Spirits, which creates new products for private labels and brands out of its North Carolina home. In addition to Bear Fight, Next Century also produces Creek Water American Whiskey and Caddy Cocktails under its own auspices.
But MacFarlane is focused solely on his new booze partner, while bringing a sense of humor to the endeavor. “There’s a lot of whiskey out there,” he said in a statement. “So for me to put my name on it, you know it’s either great, or I’m getting paid a ton of money. Well, they’re paying me almost nothing, which means Bear Fight is damn good whiskey. I don’t always stare off to the left side of a photo at something off-camera while holding a bottle, but when I do, that bottle is Bear Fight whiskey.”
The whiskey itself is, according to the brand, made using traditional single malt whiskey production techniques and a “new world approach” that involves proprietary maturation and finishing processes. Bear Fight is aged for a minimum of three years in first-fill bourbon barrels and then finished for a secondary period in peat-smoked barrels and sherry casks. The whiskey is distilled in copper pot stills from a mash bill of American-grown malted barley and fermented with a “custom blend of specialty yeasts,” according to master blender Nick Scarff. It’s bottled at 90 proof and official tasting notes mention candied pecan, red apple, sherry and just a dash of peat smoke.
This partnership comes at a time when the future of American single malt as an official category is looking bright—as we’ve covered here, the TTB recently proposed a legal definition that should soon be approved. But Co-CEO of Next Century Spirits, Anthony Moniello, views this whiskey as an attempt to shake things up. “Bear Fight was created to challenge the traditional norms of single malt whiskey and rewrite the rules of the American whiskey experience,” he said in a press release. “We believe Bear Fight’s versatility and approachable price point will set the brand up to be the number one American Single Malt Whiskey that propels the category forward.”
Time will tell if MacFarlane can help Bear Fight really wake up and move out of hibernation, but for now you can buy a bottle online from Reserve Bar and at select retailers in 22 states to try it for yourself.
