Tastes

It's no hidden fact that this is one of the most highly sought after barrel proof bourbons, and it's got great reasons to back it up, too. Back when Heaven Hill was the number one media target, you could forget about finding this (enough people always ruin everything), but I ran into it while doing some shelf shopping, and since it was fully stocked at this store, I felt it was a good time to properly acknowledge and revisit it. It's obvious that ethanol is going to be a huge part to the nose. Once you realize this, you'll go past it to find a healthy fistful of fresh rye spice, and that well known number 4 barrel char, but with even more depth, like you scraped some of the wood actually off of the barrel into your glass. Like regular Elijah Craig, there's not much more to the scent; as I've said before, simple, uncomplicated bourbons and whiskeys usually yield the best results. First few tastes immediately let the caramel shine, which is to expected. My second phase tasting (swish, swallow, don't open mouth for air) was definitely pretty tough to get through, as the ethanol and rye spice almost murdered it's way through my nostrils. Once I was able to let it breathe through the third phase and beyond, the rye can be tasted very well. It goes back to what I said before, where this is a simple recipe to begin with, and if it ain't broke... All in all, this is certainly one of the most memorable barrel proof bourbons I've ever had. I remember having it years ago at the distillery and certainly craving it since then. However, the media boom killed that craving really quick. Now that that is over, I find this extremely dark, full, billboard impression of a true bourbon to be something I'll try to continuously buy and happily display in my collection.

I saw this reviewed recently on the front page, and the consensus seemed to be that this was "too potent" for most. I don't believe I'm out of line when I say I am ready for this Scotch to secure the blindfold and work it's reach on me. So, knowing that the age is really the only differing factor here versus other Ardbeg products, I figured I wouldn't get much difference on the scent, but really only the taste. However, although the nose does differ with notes of saltwater, honey, and mineral, it's shockingly more "sticky" than other Ardbeg offerings. What I mean is, even though I can smell my glass a mile away (which is usual), the scent drifts up my nose and lodges itself into my brain, really securing the peat and changing the way it's ever been perceived. Going in, the ethanol hits the nose, which delivers more peat backbone before it ever touches the lips. Upon first taste, the saltiness is what's first detected, although it's not stronger than usual, just easier to find. The honey and cereal from usual Ardbeg tastes are still there, but they get drowned out almost immediately by an unrefined ethanol finish. As I once predicted, it's not that the peat or smoke is any stronger in this version, but that it's simply not mellowed out in the barrel, which seems obvious. It's a nice flavor is have in the bar, especially when comparing it to other Ardbegs or Scotch. Not sure if it could really work in any cocktails, but that's probably not what the Ardbeg fellas ever had in mind. In the end, I certainly feel way more taken by the smoke with this entry, but it's mostly found in the nose and temples than through the palate.

This one is surprisingly a long time coming. I'm fairly sure (although not certain) that I sampled this while at the distillery, side by side with Rittenhouse. Of course, with Rittenhouse being a superior rye, it was even more surprising to find that I fell for this one (or so I remember). So, I finally picked up a bottle of "top shelf Rittenhouse." The nose invites fresh rye, but also a much deeper blend of spice, likely from the longer aging. It seems like a simple scent of cinnamon mellowed out with oak and caramel, but of course, the best things usually are simple. The initial taste is almost that of a high-rye bourbon, which is to say oily, obviously full of rye spice, but letting the oak and vanilla take point. Then, like one of the best magic tricks I've seen in a while, the cinnamon (mellowed much more with age than one would taste from Rittenhouse, however) explodes forth when given air. It doesn't stop there, though; as more air is introduced, slight hints of freshly cut grass, more oak, and more of the oily body come into play, like Pikesville shouted invites from the rooftops to this party that they're having. The finish, as a good rye whiskey should be, burns the mouth, but not from alcohol, oh no, but with the cinnamon spice of a challenging spice candy. It's a much longer finish than that of Rittenhouse, which really defines who the big brother is here. If my distillery adventure truly wasn't a fever dream, then me saying out loud during tasting, "I remember why I love this whiskey so much" makes sense. Thank your god that the Heaven Hill bandwagon finally broke down. I like their products as much as any other normal collector, but now that the media train is on Buffalo Trace (for reasons unknown to the universe), I can seemingly enjoy their products, including this one, much more now that I can find it without going on side quests.

Wow, that's some seriously intense caramel on the nose, especially for only 6 years, but I guess that's likely those intense "alligator" barrels. This honestly may be tough to distinguish between a rye whiskey and a bourbon if this were a blind tasting. Having said that, the rye can be detected as a smooth, clean fresh grain scent, which, again, is odd considering being aged for some time. I expected caramel on the taste (even though that doesn't make sense for a rye whiskey), but instead found some burnt sugar and yet a bit of raw oak at the same time. The rye is not as strong as I was hoping for, but then again, I'm not sure what percentage of the mash truly is rye for this one. It definitely is clean, with typical rye notes like grass, cinnamon, and broken bread, but they all ride on a very weak body. I decided to get this over the single barrel rye to save money and try to find another rye whiskey I was craving, and I can tell the prospects and ideas were good, but the execution doesn't quite land where it should. This is somewhat shocking, given how much strong rye flavor comes through on all of Wild Turkey's products. The proof is probably one of the biggest losses, as I'm sure the rye would come through better with a higher proof blend. I'm almost positive that the single barrel is a higher proof, but this batch isn't enough to get me curious into trying the single barrel for the price point.

Lots of fruity notes of the scent, like cherry and other berries, as well as very light oak and vanilla. Notably low ethanol vapor also on the nose. Lots more fruit on the taste, including the berries, but more if they were a jelly or jam. There's burnt sugar here as well, but honestly a little too far burnt. At first I thought the oak flavor (which is also a bit faint) was young and raw, but it has the same suffering as aforementioned, with a burnt flavor, but no proof or depth to really show from that. There's something about this that definitely does not work well with me. Perhaps it's an interesting note of a berry cobbler where the crumble topping was torched terribly too long. Also worth noting is that 100 proof, which is not low by any means, is not really detected by taste or finish.

The color has great depth, but not noticeably different from their standard rye whiskey. The scent is very, very clean, with true cinnamon and grass rye through one nostril, and earthy, wet peat through the other. Notably, the peat is actually fairly faint, and is being carried by caramel oak, but it is detectable at the front of the nose. The taste is actually full of much more caramel than I remember their traditional rye blend tasting of, with a lovely spicy barrel finish, and, most surprisingly, no peat unless air is introduced. Breathing across the tongue during the finish transforms the potent cinnamon flavors into heavy Scotch vibes, with more of the actual flavors of peat than the smoky vibe that usually comes along with it. The added peat smoke is much better integrated into this "riff" than that of the bourbon, as seems to be the consensus. Whereas the bourbon is an interesting talking point, this Backsetter is quite impressive, and blends two cultures well enough that I will likely reach for it when I want that perfect blend of vanilla, caramel, spicy oak, and smoky, honey, and malty Scotch notes. Part of me wishes that the bourbon, naturally tasting much sweeter than the rye whiskey, would work just as well as this iteration does as far as the peat addition goes, but I feel that the strong spice from this notably kickass (not swamp ass) rye base is exactly what I look for when I reach for Scotch, being more an Islay fan than anywhere else. Fun idea, NR team!

Alright, so when I first heard of this release, I was excited to have the addition of peat to an already great base whiskey. However, after bringing it home and reading more into it to find only the barley part of the backset was peated, I became even more curious to taste it, since again, standard New Riff is the tits. The peat can be detected on the nose, but only from a distance or at the very first second; after that, the BiB proof hits and brings the standard NR caramel and cinnamon spice, with perhaps a bit of saltwater that lingers around. Thank goodness I did not get anything resembling "steamed vegetables." Upon first taste, the body seems light, but the proof reminds you that it is not, as it goes down. As I taste for a second time, I get a bit of my favorite peat taste notes, a roaring tire fire. Although this does not last long, it seems to affect the bourbon by mellowing the oak notes a tad, while still leaving the rye spice and caramel from just the barrel char. It's as if this was aged in barrels with both a level 4 and level 1 char simultaneously. The finish is probably one of the quickest one I've ever experienced, with the exception of that tough cinnamon sticking around, which I found shocking. Overall, this is both not so much an impressive "new riff" and also unique to have around, all while still representing the standard NR bourbon flavor to the point where it could be drank in a line of others and not change things that noticeably. This was my first choice to taste before the rye, but as the bourbon option, it's something I will likely reach for less, but show off more.

A bit of raw grain on the nose, but it's mostly sweet corn, caramel, and some general spice. It actually smells like it would be a higher proof than it is, but without any burn through the nose. The body is initially a bit disappointing, but that is likely from the lower proof. The barrel flavor is certainly coming through, but without a longer age time, I'm getting more young oak than the traditional longer aged tasting notes, and it makes me curious on what barrel char level was used. There are indeed some dark fruit notes closer to the finish, which definitely make this a unique blend. This reminds me of my all time favorite craft bourbon (which shall not be named), so it's getting a lot of automatic love from me. I was also very jealous to learn of the other delicious sounding products this distillery produces, since this was the only product I could find. Overall, I would enjoy coming back to this bourbon probably more often than not to try to break up the less different ones in my collection. Great work!

Scent is very high on rye and oak, both young and aged, and smells like the proof is even higher than 100, which is always a nice bonus. As with most Bulleit products, the body is notoriously light, so the flavors don't come to the forefront immediately. I've had both the 10 year bourbon and the cask strength bourbon, and this product does a great job of blending those two concepts together, while adding a good amount of fresh rye to the mix. This has a much better taste of cask age compared to the 10 year bourbon, which is very bland and unimpressive. Meanwhile, the proof of this is almost perfect (could be a tad bit higher, I bet), and brings along the other flavors much easier than the regular cask strength bourbon, which didn't have a lot going on other than oak-based flavors from the cask. All in all, this is a good pick, for the price found, but only because it's a limited release. If I knew this was going to be around, I would probably steer elsewhere to save a bit of money.