Review #: 100
Description: New Riff Single Barrel Rye
Spirit: Rye
Background: New Riff has been coming onto the scene making a splash with their solid 4 year old bourbon both bottled-in-bond and barrel proof. They have followed that model with their rye, with their single barrel ryes coming out in late 2019. Their rye mashbill is 100 rye, with 95% being unmalted, and 5% malted. This is barrel no 15-3999, distilled in the fall of 2015 and bottled in the fall of 2019 without chillfiltration or dilution.
This was done as a short flight of craft rye whiskies around the 4 year mark and bottled at cask strength. The also included a Willett Family Estate Small Batch and a Driftless Glen Single Barrel.
Distillery – New Riff
Bottler – New Riff
Brand – New Riff
Selection – N/A
ABV – 55.9%
Age – 4 Years
Nose – Ginger, bread, fudge, peppermint, sourdough
Taste – Spiced cake, molasses, honey, gingersnap cookie
Finish – Sharp hit of spice (rye, ginger, pepper) and oak but quickly fades to a dull finish with little heat
Score: 6
Would I buy a bottle? Yes
Thoughts: This was really interesting to try off the heels of the other two ryes. It was great to see the range of flavors that rye has to offer. This was much more of a wintery type feel with all the gingerbread and chocolate. I think this and the Willett are on the same level, where if you want more savory you go Willett, and if you want sweet and spicy, you go NR. I’d like maybe a bit more complexity on the palate, but I think they are going to have an amazing product when it reaches 6-8 years old