New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye Bottled In Bond

Nice nose full of fruit with some chocolate and caramel present. The taste is as if I just took a bite out of a green apple. Ends on some caramel with a bit of tobacco lingering.

Nose: Cointreau, clove, allspice, cinnamon, dill seed, mint, green apple, honey, vanilla bean, very faint oak. Fruity, warm, clean and soft with excellent balance. Palate: Sweet, spicy and very approachable. The palate is precisely in line with the nose with clove, allspice, cinnamon, orange, menthol and apple all immediately apparent. The development does not bring a great deal more forward, but there is cherry tart, butterscotch muffin and caramel sauce, grilled banana and some drying oak tannin. The texture is good. Finish: Medium/short. Spicy/sweet notes and stewed peaches. The profile of this rye is very close to that of the New Riff Bottled in Bond Bourbon that I just reviewed - they are almost mirror images. This is very much a soft young rye with bourbon highlights, while the other expression is a soft young bourbon with rye highlights. Both whiskies are delightful and like the bourbon this is not improved by dilution and I’d recommend it neat. I did not try it over ice but I imagine it would be addictively easy to drink that way. Sadly, however, this has the same issue locally as the bourbon, being priced at a point that is simply prohibitive. Tasted from a 30ml sample. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

Smooth, rye is strong, I taste caramel, chestnut, vanilla,

Spicy, heat, lingering hot finish