Review #: 585
Description: New Riff Red Turkey Wheat
Spirit: Bourbon
Background: This is a bourbon from New Riff that, as the name suggests, uses a locally grown wheat called “Red Turkey.” It uses 25% of it in the mash, with the remaining being 70% corn and 5% malted barley. Bottled-in-bond and aged 5 years, this takes a slight deviation from the rye use that really put them on the map with their initial offerings.
Distillery – New Riff
Bottler – New Riff
Brand – New Riff
Selection – N/A
ABV – 50%
Age – 5 Years
Nose – Delicate sweetness with maraschino cherry, red apple, roasted corn, dry caramel, coffee beans, burnt wheat
Taste – Does have a bit of bready sweetness, thin fruit juice, watery caramel, really just pretty thin and nothing jumping out. Maybe some almond cookie?
Finish – Youth comes in from the wheat, a touch of sweet spice until some heat comes in but it is pretty short
Score: 4
Would I buy a bottle? No
Thoughts: Disappointing with this one. Just think the use of wheat and youth don’t really set it up to succeed. I was surprised at how thin it felt. 50% should be plenty, but it still felt held back and watery. All for them continuing to experiment, but not everything is going to be a homerun.