New Riff 4 Year Single Barrel Bourbon

Sweet, toasty aroma. Smells like brown sugar French toast. Light mouth feel, sweet at first then gets very spicy/peppery and bitter. Easy to drink over large rock despite high proof.

Fantastic fantastic whiskey. A marriage of Japanese and Tennessee whiskey. Complex and strong, though sweet and clean, though soicy. Vanilla, green apple, and spice.

Neck pour. Riff in the force. This is a private pick done by a local enthusiast. He was kind enough to give me two bottles of his barrel. It’s a cool bottle with an etched lightsaber on the side. It’s been a while since I opened a new bottle of this so excited to officially review his pick. The nose is interesting. It hits a different range of flavors than the Party Source picks I am used to. Tobacco leaves, apricot, salty caramel, toffee, black pepper, and a hint of honey. Gosh this nose has a lot of depth. On the nose, it’s a step up from other single barrels I have had. It just has this ride of bright and dark flavors on each approach. Nice, thick and rich texture. Caramel, cinnamon apple on the tongue, very sweet. Oh man. This is a good pick. Starts out chocolate and butterscotch, transitions back to the apple and cinnamon. But then ends back at the chocolate. It’s a very nice milk chocolate too. Rich, creamy and sweet. Damn. Geez. I am a bit of a New Riff fan boy but I like this barrel quite a bit. It’s a really good pick, rich and crisp. You can smell the youngness but it’s this sweet tobacco leaf that actually has an interesting dynamic. This pick is a little over 4 years. Just makes me more excited for the day that New Riff releases 6 year or 8 year barrels. If Wilderness Trail can do it, why not New Riff?