Popular Clothing Brand Troll Co. Launches a Bourbon, for Some Reason

(Photo: Five Nine Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey)

Popular clothing brand Troll Co. has launched its first bourbon, Five Nine Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

According to the brand, the bourbon is intended to honor hard-working and under-recognized blue-collar Americans who “definitely don’t subscribe to a 9-5 workday” — hence the “Five Nine” name, which flips 9-5 on its head.

“With Five Nine Bourbon we wanted to create a tools-down whiskey that celebrates some of life’s small wins – like an end to a long shift or savoring the satisfaction of a job well done,” Five Nine Whiskey CEO Rick Tremblay said in a news release.

Five Nine Bourbon was distilled in Owensboro, Kentucky, meaning it’s likely produced by Green River Distilling, which in February released a bourbon for the first time in more than a century. Aged a minimum of two years, Five Nine is a 90-proof whiskey with a 21% rye mash bill, making it a high-rye bourbon.

Troll Co. collaborated with advertising agency One Twenty Three West for work on the concept, design, name and launch of Five Nine Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

“The vision for the design for the Five Nine brand was rooted in embodying that blue collar lifestyle, the juxtaposition between the grittiness of hard work in contrast with the appreciation for the quality and sophistication of a well-crafted whiskey,” said Mo Bofill, Creative Director and Partner at One Twenty Three West. “This was truly a great partnership of co-creating with the Troll Co. team to bring this to life.”

Troll Co was founded in 2016 with a “Make Trolls Great Again” hat and since has blossomed into a clothing brand with a significant following (about 433,000 followers on Instagram).

While the brand messaging is apparent, it is unclear why the company decided to make a bourbon, of all things. It’s quite the shift from clothing.

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