Press release: Echo Spirits, an Ohio distillery known for its founders' drive to produce high-quality whiskeys and rums, is proud to showcase its bourbon blending skills once again via the latest release in its highly regarded Engineer Series.
Echo Spirits Engineer Series Batch 25A - Trail Mix is the evolution of a series Joe Bidinger and Nikhil Sharoff, both former engineers turned whiskey distillers, see as a bourbon blending workshop, a place to think outside the box of the regular brown spirits they produce. They take quality-sourced bourbons from other distilleries and transform them into something new and unique. Each batch is a masterpiece, with its own distinct mash bill, tasting profile, and back story.
“The Engineer Series came from our desire to innovate constantly and try to surprise people,” notes Bidinger. “While our own whiskeys age, we don’t want to blindly dump barrels together and label them our own. It’s important to us to remain transparent about where our whiskey is coming from while creating something new and unique each time.
“We try to treat individual whiskey barrels like ingredients in a dish. And we love to use different ingredients each time.”
For the Engineer Series, which debuted last year, the distillery team experiments with various combinations until they find that final sweet spot they can engineer into something special. As all this blending comes together, so does the batch's name. For Echo Spirits, the tasting notes lead to visualizations of how a particular bottling might come to life in something they are doing, such as smoking a cigar or enjoying a nice dessert.
Batch 25A - Trail Mix, like its Engineer Series siblings, blends elements from other distilleries - in this case, it consists of two identical Kentucky-based Bardstown Bourbon Company mash bills (60% Corn/36% Rye/4% Barley), both aged over five years. What is particularly unique about it, however, is that this is an evolution of the series - one of the two components was double-oaked by Echo Spirits for an additional 1 year and 1 month by dumping that portion into low-char, heavy toast New American oak from the Speyside cooperage.
“The double oak process, for us, reflects the creative expansion of the Engineer Series,” says Sharoff. “We believe that low-char, heavy toast New American oak truly provides Trail Mix with a distinctive taste profile.”
Seen as an ideal whiskey for being out on the trail that drinks lower than its proof, it is like trail mix in that all the individual components taste great on their own, but blended together, they are much better.
Authors note: As an engineer myself, I knew I had to have a look at this series. I love that the founders are from a similar analytical mind to my own, so I was thrilled to receive a free media sample for the purposes of this review with no strings attached. In accordance with my editorial policy, I tasted through this three times before giving it a score.
Company on Label: Blended and bottled by Echo Spirits Distilling Company, Columbus, Ohio
Whiskey Type: A blend of bourbon whiskeys
Mash Bill Percentages: 60% corn, 36% rye, 4% malted barley distilled at Bardstown Bourbon Company
Proof: 113°
Age: Two barrels each aged 5 years and 8 months were utilized for this blend, and one barrel was double oaked for another 1 year and 1 month
MSRP: $59.99
Further identification: The February 2025 batch blended two barrels, both from the same mash bill from Bardstown Bourbon Co, 58% of which consisted of a double oaked barrel, and 42% from an untampered with barrel; it yielded 357 bottles
Nose: On first lifting the glass to my nose I find oodles of chocolate presenting level and creamy. It's relatively simple from here, but the soft and fluffy feel in the nose is ultra-comfortable to inhale deeply on. Thoughts of a warm fire come to mind as a soft flame flickers on a warming marshmallow. Coming back after a few sips builds out a good bit of linen and nylon that reminds me of a nice hiking pack, loaded to the brim with camping gear. The empty glass smells of metal barrel rings and fresh wood construction.
Palate: As I take my first sip, I'm surprised by a potent delivery of peanut brittle across the tongue, reminiscent of some profiles you might find out of Jim Beam distillate. Another sip after a long rest amplifies vanilla bean and heavy cream which is vaguely impressive. Sipping late in the glass confirms the simplicity that the nose suggested, but I find the most clear M&M flavor that also confirms this project was titled correctly. It's a sweet sipping bourbon without being cloying, but the whiskey consistency is a touch thin for my preference. My last sip carries a bit of underlying fruit that wasn't apparent before, without ever materializing into something that can be directly identified.
TL;DR: Simple, straightforward, flavorful bourbon that drinks well below proof
Rating: 3.5/5
This is a great bottle, not because the whiskey inside is some exceptional masterpiece (which, I know, I always yearn for), but because it offers a really distinct flavor profile at an affordable cost. For just 60 bucks, I'd be pleasantly surprised with the whiskey within, blended from Bardstown Bourbon Co stocks. This feels like one of the better bottles that you could stuff in your pack for a hiking trip to have a nice, flavorful sip at the end of your journey. While I probably won't be seeking out a bottle myself, I'm grateful to have discovered Echo Spirits out of Columbus, Ohio, and I look forward to seeing what their own still is capable of in the future.
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