New Riff 4 Year Single Barrel Bourbon

Caramel popcorn, spicy rye fusion, aged well for only 4 years. Very glad to come across this, looking forward to them releasing older offerings eventually.

Taste: 1 oz. neat in glen cairn Nose: (3.75) A bit more ethanol than I would have expected at 110 proof. There are traditional notes of vanilla, candy-corn, caramel with some new oak in the background. I also detected a mustiness similar to what is found in most Wild Turkey. It was interesting and not off putting. Palate (4.25) Nice buttery mouthfeel that is sweet and coating without being cloying. The vanilla and candy corn play through. That mustiness is gone, I almost would have liked it to remain so I could explore it more. A taste of fresh peanut shells comes through almost like some of the Jim Beam products have- super good here. I did get a bit of fresh oak that may have revealed some of the spirit's youth. Overall: If the creators of New Riff have left some of this to age for another year or two....watch out because it could he extraordinarily good. I found it pleasant, interesting, traditional but with an edge to it. I am definately going to keep this one on my future radar because I am thinking when this juice stays in the barrel a year or two longer it will move from good to special

I picked this up a couple months ago in February, the first time I had heard of it. New Riff is a new distillery in Newport KY, just across the river from Cincinnatti. This review is of the single barrel version of New Riff’s bourbon, barrel 14930. This whiskey is bottled at a hearty 56.45% ABV. It’s made from a mashbill of 65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley. It’s aged “at least four years” and is non-chill filtered. The nose is very spicy, paying tribute to the 30% rye in the mashbill. Lots of cinnamon, red hot candies, caramel, and hints of vanilla and oak. A little heat from the ABV but very manageable. The palate is more of the same: big, bold sweet cinnamon with more of the red hots. This is like cinnamon whiskey without the sickening sweet syrup. There are also hints of vanilla and baking spices behind the cinnamon. The finish is medium length with peppery rye spice, charred oak, and a hint of smoke. I really like this whiskey but I can see where some may not. I like high rye bourbons, and I like the cinnamon flavors. It is a bit one dimensional l, but then again so are most bourbons. This was $50 at my local Kroger and at that price it’s a pretty decent value for a true cask strength bourbon. Very good. 3.75/5

All out of notes...

Good Spirits 114pf pick.

"Butter's Stotch." Good Spirits 112pf pick.

4 year single barrel... this is the tops. Why spend over 50 for anything else? This is fantastic bourbon for the price.