New Riff Single Barrel
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey | 56.3% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Worth the wait? Maybe…
Take a seat. We’ll be with you in six months.
I have been doing my best to immerse myself into the world of bourbon, despite the fact that my taste buds are craving single malt. But, I adhere to the adage “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”.
As such, even in bourbon country, I still search for bourbons that might tickle my fancy. As Roy often says over at Aqvavitae, “don’t say ‘I don’t like’”...as tastes and surroundings change, and there might be things that surprise you.
This holiday season, starting with Thanksgiving here in the States, I have begun to amass a significant number of bottles in my bourbon cabinet. As of the writing of this piece, the cabinet has swelled from eight to nineteen bottles (read here: a string of reviews of bourbons and ryes will be forthcoming.) As it happened, the first bottle in the line of new additions is the bottle I am reviewing here.
As I have said previously, I am a particular fan of a few bourbon YouTube channels. Even before I moved to a state that cannot provide interesting malts, I would watch these bourbon channels to expand my knowledge of bourbons and ryes. I keep a list of bottles on my phone and laptop that have sounded interesting from various reviews. Generally, as I look at my bourbon list as a whole, it is composed of newer, craft-type expressions. While I don’t have anything against someone enjoying a standard Jim Beam, Evan Williams, or Bulleit bourbon offering (in fact, I am keen to find a bottle of Mellow Corn, truth be told), my curiosity is piqued when reading/watching reviews that highlight interesting flavor profiles. These are the bottles, by and large, that come from newer distilleries and/or newer expressions. These are the bottles that wind up on my spreadsheet.
My wife and I closed the deal on our North Carolina house in May 2024. We moved in and it took another few weeks of time to paint, make fixes to the house, and finalize furniture, etc. Once we became a bit comfy in our new surroundings in early June, I thought I would treat myself by ordering one of the interesting bottles on my spreadsheet from our local ABC.
As has been mentioned in the second Colonials podcast, here in North Carolina, the ABC that runs the alcohol stores in the state has a website from which you can see availability; if the state has purchased a particular bottle for re-sale to its citizens. I found this bottle on the ABC site, and went to my local ABC store. I walked around the store but I did not see it on the shelves. I then went to the counter to chat with the lady at the register. The conversation went something like this:
“How are you, hon?”
“Just great, thanks, and hope you are, too.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I am looking for a particular bottle that isn’t on the shelves here but I saw on the ABC website.”
“Well, I can certainly put an order in for you. What’s the bottle you’re looking for?”
“New Riff Single Barrel bourbon.”
“No problem. We’ll get that for you.”
I gave the woman my name and phone number, and she indicated that she would let me know when the bottle came in. I thanked the woman for her help, and turned to walk out, but after a step or two, I turned and addressed the lady, once more.
“Sorry…just a quick question. What is the timeline for the bottle to get here?”
“Well…we’ll send the request to Raleigh [our state capital, and, evidently, where the ABC headquarters are] and they’ll go through the warehouse and send an allocation to us. Should be pretty quick. No more than six months.”
I usually have a pretty good poker face, but clearly the surprise was not hidden from view. The very nice lady who was helping me asked if I had any more questions. I hesitated, but politely excused myself and thanked her, again, for her assistance.
I left the store with the initial reaction of disgust. I might have to wait until the Christmas season before this bottle was delivered from, roughly, three hours away? By the time I reached my car in the parking lot, I had told myself the six month range given to me must have been a mistake. There was no way that could happen. And with that bit of self-diversion, I left and, frankly, forgot about New Riff Single Barrel.
Fast forward to mid-November.
I received a voicemail message from an unfamiliar number. The message stated: “Hello, Mr. Shaw. My name is Jacqueline from your local ABC. I understand you ordered a bottle of New Riff Single Barrel. Well, we have received a few New Riff bottles. They are not the single barrel you asked for, but come in and see if you want some. Thank you.”
Seriously.
After a good deal of shaking my head, I went to the ABC store. I saw that they had received an allocation of two New Riff Kentucky whiskies. Not the bottle I had requested, and I passed on buying a bottle. I left the store that day and any thought of having a New Riff Single Barrel evaporated.
Two weeks ago, however, I walked into the same ABC store as I needed a bottle of The Botanist gin (the best, in my opinion…perhaps skewed because I am a Bruichladdich fanboy). After grabbing a bottle, I instinctively went over to the whiskey section. And as I perused the shelves, lo and behold, there was a single bottle of New Riff Single Barrel. Just sitting there. No one called me to tell me that it had arrived and was in stock, despite the fact that I had placed a specific, special order for this bottle. Simply the workings of blind luck…let’s call it kismet. Or, let’s call it what it is – the realities of a North Carolina whiskey hunt.
After the time, the aggravation, the disappointment, and the surprise…time to dig into this bottle and see if it was worth the six months’ wait.
Review
New Riff Single Barrel, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Barrel 28946, Mashbill: 65% Corn, 30% Rye, 5% malted barley, 56.3% ABV US$57 (£46) paid. Widely available in UK around £75
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Worth the wait? Maybe…
Nose
Nice level of oak. Cinnamon and raisins. Anise seed. Flat cola. Hint of caraway seeds and baked rye bread. Vanilla custard. A floral element mixes with a slightly metallic hint not unlike warmed copper pennies. The more I nose this, hints of dark fruits are present such as cherries and dates.
Palate
Not your typical bourbon – and I like it. Immediately silky on the tongue, coating my mouth with a molasses and raisin combination, paired with dark caramel. A well-incorporated oak blends nicely with the layers of flavor. Despite this being a single barrel from virgin American oak, there is what seems like a hint of a PX sherry-type taste. The high rye mashbill is evident with its menthol-citrus-liquorice flavors swirling in the background as a lovely highlight. It is a particularly nice foil to the caramel and cinnamon flavors that carry over from the nose. While I am certainly aware that this is a high octane dram (56.3% ABV), there is no heat that puts me off as overly charged. The finish goes on for days, and it does so with that lovely balance of sweet and herbal intertwined. Vanilla fudge, cinnamon, and a bit of white pepper.
The Dregs
New Riff is a relatively new distillery. Founded in 2014 by Ken Lewis – described as an entrepreneur and liquor retailer – New Riff, as its website says, is guided by a team of “corporate refugees ranging from craft beer to politics and more.” The distillery has put its energies toward craft distilling. Its “entry” bourbon is a bottled in bond expression. New Riff offers acclaimed rye expressions, two gin expressions, a sour mash single malt, a few bourbon expressions, and both a bourbon and rye single barrel release.
For the single barrel Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey release, these bottles have been aged four years in 53 gallon virgin American white oak barrels. As with all other whiskies made by New Riff, this single barrel bottle distillate is made with a “full sour mash Kentucky regimen”. As one online source relays: “The process allows a slow, natural rise over a four-day fermentation temperature to collect various flavors from their native microflora.” The New Riff website describes this sour mash regimen as:
We were instructed in the arts of sour mash and swore to maintain this Kentucky whiskey making tradition. . . . Sour mashing—the reincorporation of a portion of a prior fermentation (after distillation)—is only the best known step. Other important precepts of Kentucky-style whiskey include open fermentation; the permitting of co-fermentation by a microflora distinct to each distillery (with the addition of distiller’s yeast); distillation on the grain in a column beer still; and the use of a continuous doubler for a second distillation. We came to learn this process as a holistic regimen—the Kentucky Regimen of whiskey making.
The good reviews I had read and listened to over the past few years about this expression did not lead me astray. This bottle is lovely. To be sure, when I first opened it the tastes were a bit acrid and biting. After a few weeks’ time, this has opened up tremendously well. The flavors have developed and rounded.
This was worth a wait…though perhaps not six months. And while I understand that as a single barrel offering each bottle will vary a bit from bottle to bottle, if the general taste profile is of this nature and quality, I will replace this bottle when done without hesitation. Not many bourbons have garnered this level of appreciation from me.
While the price proposition for bourbons versus single malts (at least in the eastern United States) is not apples to apples (as bourbons are, in general, materially cheaper than their single malt counterparts), at a shade under $60 USD (£48), getting a single barrel offering of this quality is icing on a very good cake.
I reached out to Aengus McCloud as I recalled that he went to the distillery almost two years ago. While we often read about a distillery’s self-described glowing history, founding, and ethos in the text shown on their bottle labels or on their websites, what stood out to me in my chat with Aengus was what he said about his time at the distillery. He was quick to note that “[t]he thing that I remember most is a sense of community and pride from both the people working there and the locals at the bar. Like they knew they have something good going on there.”
That pride is not misplaced. They do have something good going on at New Riff, and it shows in the bottle in my hand. Well done New Riff.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. OS
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Other opinions on this:
SLB Drinks (comparative review video)
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