This Beloved Boston Craft Brewery Just Dropped a Trio of New Whiskeys
Trillium is a relative newcomer to the craft beer scene, having only been founded a little over a decade ago. But this New England brewery now has multiple locations in Boston, a restaurant and taproom in Canton, Mass., and a farm in North Stonington, Conn. Apparently, making popular craft beer was not enough, because Trillium started releasing spirits a few years ago, and just added a trio of new whiskeys to the lineup. We got an early taste of all three, and are happy to report that these are indeed some good whiskeys.
Trillium doesn’t actually distill its whiskey. Instead, it sources aged barrels from other distilleries and blends them together, a common practice that any non-distilling producer employs (the sources are not revealed). In late fall, Trillium launched a trio of new expressions: Wake Robin Bourbon, Wake Robin Small Batch Bourbon, and Wake Robin Small Batch Rye, all blended by head distiller Kyle Wortz (formerly of Utah’s High West Distillery). While the term “small batch” has no legal meaning, presumably in this case it means these are blended using smaller batches of barrels, as opposed to the scale one might find at a major distillery like Jack Daniel’s or the James B. Beam Distilling Co.
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The core bourbon is a blend of two mashbills that were aged from two to six years: 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, 4 percent malted barley; and 78 percent corn, 10 percent rye, 12 percent malted barley. This is a tasty bourbon, with classic notes of vanilla, brown sugar, and stone fruit on the palate, and a touch of heat that comes from it being bottled at 90 proof. The Small Batch bourbon is older, combining whiskey aged from four to seven years, and uses the same two mashbills as the core bourbon along with one more high-rye recipe (60 percent corn, 36 percent rye, 4 percent malted barley). This is also a good bourbon, with similar tasting notes buttressed by a bit more spice and some heat that comes from it being bottled at a higher 92 proof. Lastly, the Small Batch Rye is a blend of two different mashbills aged from six to seven years—a classic 95 percent rye and 5 percent malted barley recipe, and a lower rye recipe of 64 percent rye, 30 percent corn, and 6 percent malted barley. This 92-proof whiskey has notes of black pepper, cinnamon, leather, and burnt molasses on the palate.
There are a bunch of other spirits available from Trillium as well, including gin, vodka, white rum, and two different kinds of amaro. According to a press release, more whiskeys will be added to the lineup this year, including cask-strength and cask-finished expressions, along with vermouth and some new flavored liqueurs. If you’d like to try these spirits for yourself, you can order them directly from the Trillium website (shipping is available to certain states), and soon they will be available to purchase from Massachusetts retailers.
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