New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Bottled In Bond

Big thanks to @ctbeck11 for this sample. New Riff unfortunately does not yet distribute to Oklahoma, so I'm glad to get a chance to try. I did a mini blind to see if this is better than Evan Williams BiB. I was able to guess which is which, and good news for New Riff, it edged out the EWBiB. The nose on the two isn't that far off, and I couldn't decide which was which on the nose. Both have a fairly typical bourbon nose, with the NR a little richer, more brown sugar, and the EW comes across as slightly sour and flat in comparison. On the palate the two separated themselves. The NR has a more viscous mouthfeel. There's not a ton of flavor on the mid palate, but it has a decent finish with a nice lingering sweetness. It's an easy drinker, and for 30-something dollars, I think this is not a bad buy for a younger craft bourbon. It wins the better-than-12$-bourbon test and is possibly something I could see picking up if I come across it outside of Oklahoma.

Vanilla. I suspect it’ll be better in cocktail than neat

Blind taste test - bought 50 mL bottles at Total Wine in Grand Rapids with Kyle. Color is a medium-dark amber. Smell is soft corn with the smallest hint of pepper spice. Taste is vanilla but also mysteriously subtle with a hint of bitter rye peppercorn and a sweet, caramelized leathery finish. Upon reveal, mint, clove, and pepper also present.