Review #: 590
Description: New Riff Single Barrel: Diamond in the R/iff 2
Spirit: Bourbon
Background: Almost 450 reviews ago, I did the original Diamond in the R/iff which was really the selection that launched the r/bourbon single barrel program to what it is today. New Riff therefore really holds a special spot and having helped now select a few barrels, they have treated this subreddit well. Diamond in the R/iff 2 was selected in 2020 so fun now to look at some of what was offered to the program compared to now as the distillery has developed so much in that time.
Distillery – New Riff
Bottler – New Riff
Brand – New Riff
Selection – r/Bourbon
ABV – 52.8%
Age – 4 Years
Nose – Spiced Christmas cake, dark chocolate, dry tobacco, there’s some musty fruit like apple and dates in there
Taste – Vanilla, thin milk caramel, espresso, some more of that date comes through as an earthy fruit sweetness
Finish – Lot of spice warmth, baking spices and candied ginger linger for a long, long time
Score: 5
Would I buy a bottle? 2020? Maybe. Now? Probably not but with prices of these bottles staying pretty constant over the years it only shows how New Riff has grown while maintaining being a solid value
Thoughts: This would be a perfect pour on a snowy, winter night. It’s really spice forward which keeps it from being overly sweet though makes it not as dynamic as I typically look for in my bourbon. Sometimes my laziness/giant backlog makes it fun to look back on some of the releases from several years ago and take a look at the differences in value and quality. It speaks more to how the distillery has developed as this is still solid quality but I think nowadays they just have a lot of really great barrels available.