Review: Five Trail Blended American Whiskey Batch 002
Review: Five Trail Blended American Whiskey Batch 002
You know you’ve hit peak whiskey when Coors gets in on the game. Molson Coors, in fact, started its whiskey operation in September 2021 with the launch of Five Trail Blended American Whiskey. This eluded us at the time, but now the brand is out with batch 002, a blend made in partnership with Bardstown Bourbon Company. It’s a somewhat different blend, made from 6 year old Colorado single malt, 4 year old Kentucky four grain bourbon, 4 year old Indiana wheated bourbon, and 12 year old Kentucky bourbon, all cut to proof with pure Rocky Mountain Water. (The previous version had a 4 year old Colorado single malt and a 13 year old Kentucky bourbon in it.)
Two additional Five Trail expressions were also launched this fall, including a barrel proof edition and the first of a cask finish series, this one rested in Imperial porter beer barrels (naturally).
Let’s get started with Five Trail and give blend #2 a whirl!
It’s an easygoing whiskey, offering a pleasant and gentle nose of banana, honey, and sweet breakfast cereal. Ample vanilla caramel sweetness makes gives this a mostly bourbon aromatic construction, though there’s considerably less of a wood influence here than you’ll typically find in a typical bourbon bottling. Again quite soft on the tongue, the malt component shows its face by offering up plenty of those amber waves of grain, touched with brown sugar and honey. Slight notes of nougat and almonds showcase a side that evokes a mild candy bar, with a touch of milk chocolate on the finish. There’s just a hint of spice that builds late in the game — the whiskey could surely use a bit more on that front — though it sprinkles in cinnamon and nutmeg to excellent effect. There’s no sense of alcoholic burn whatsoever throughout the experience, the whole thing coming across more like a well-made tea, for better or for worse. Mostly, it’s for the better, and this proves to be surprisingly good stuff.
95 proof. Reviewed: Batch 002CWC22-A.
A- / $60 / fivetrail.com
Five Trail Blended American Whiskey Batch 002
$60
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