New Riff Winter Whiskey

Neat. Nose is spicy cocoa powder. Taste is cocoa powder vanilla and spice with a spicy chocolate finish. I also get espresso notes on the finish.

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Bits of vanilla and banana. Nice malted sweetness at end.

I have begun to enjoy the New Riff offerings quite a bit with the base and single barrel varieties. This special release brings chocolate malt to the table. I was a bit disappointed in the Woodford Master Chocolate Malt so let's see of the team at NR does any better with this one in the mash. Nose is definitely heavy malt and vanilla. I am even getting some interesting shortbread cookie notes on this. First sip is really different on this pour. The oats come rolling in heavy like a breakfast cereal. A soft burn comes in the middle rounded by some caramel and cocoa on the edges. I am just going to tell it how this one tastes and call it a granola bar. You know the ones with some granola, dark chocolate, and a caramel drizzle. That is basically what I am getting out of this dram. Overall this one is a mix for me. It gets points for being different and brings some nice dark cocoa notes to the game. Something just isn't quite right bringing it all together for me personally, but I am definitely glad to have scored a bottle and recommend it if you can find one.

I'm amazed that no one else has written down this flavor note yet, but this tastes like an Andes mint! At first, I thought the spice character reminded me of cayenne or Mexican chocolate, but now I realized it is more of a peppermint/spearmint and mocha/milk chocolate! I wish I had bought a whole bottle of this when I had the chance. What an interesting bottle!