New Riff 4 Year Single Barrel Bourbon

Picked up more than a year ago while in KY. SiB picked by Chuck’s liquor named “Chuck’s dessert bomb’. 104 proof so relatively weak for barrel proof. Really nice dark color for only being 4.5 years old and 104 proof. Nose is pretty sweet with some decent notes of rich butterscotch and sweet berries. The palate brings a relatively thin feel despite the NCF, and immediately brings a nutty heat that isn’t as musty as a Beam product, but similar. Sweeter Peanut brittle, with the rye heat growing quickly. A tiny bit of wood shows, but not much. The finish is dominated by the souring the heat that drys the palate as it fades. The final feel and notes are sticky thyme which I personally don’t enjoy. Given the heat, age and price, this isn’t my favorite. I generally don’t like young bourbons or bourbons with more than 20% rye, so maybe that’s why I don’t like this bottle. I’m very excited for what they do in the future, and think that 6-7 year stock from them might be excellent. But for the regular 4 year SiB picks, I’d suggest you pass for $50. Much better can be had with a similar high rye profile. This has a good bit in common with some of the 4R SiB 100 proofers I’ve had (35% rye and 6-8 years old), but is all around worse. Also similar would be 1792 BiB, which is a little lighter on rye in the mashbill and palate, but pretty close. Hell, even a Jim Beam SiB 107 is pretty similar in character with a lower rye content. All of those are cheaper and debatably better than this. But I am excited for the future of New Riff and will try some of their future offerings (if they’re ever offered here in TX).

My first experience with New Riff. Super enjoyable sipper with spice present and a nice oak and vanilla kiss. Great balance of flavors. Hard to believe it is 107 proof. Well done.