New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye Bottled In Bond

Fall 2016 label. Honey-orange color that's the same tint that cinematographers use when they set a scene in Mexico. The gas fumes that come out in the first whiff are no joke: every decimal of that 50% abv registers in the nostril like a stock car finishing a lap. The nose is prickly: black licorice, pepper and fennel. It's root beer barrel candy, and cola with a soaked cherry dropped in. Hay and rye grains. A mint-scented scratch-n-sniff sticker. The taste is pine needles/fir trees; a very resinous and oily wood presence at the front. Peanut dust. The middle is a lot of black pepper, rye and cinnamon. Black licorice and star anise. A syrupy flavor and feel. It finishes with expected intensity: rye spices and potpourri. Metallic with some charcoal ashes. More of that characteristic pepper. The finish smolders for a bit, but then transitions into a minty coolness. This is a peppery, bitter rye that challenges the taste buds and lights a little fire in the belly. Starts with some prickly heat, and finishes with a slick, cooling coda.