soonershrink
New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye Bottled In Bond
Rye — Kentucky , USA
Reviewed
February 14, 2022 (edited April 29, 2022)
This gives ongoing confirmation of my opinion that if you have a choice between a craft bourbon or rye from the same distillery, that the rye is likely to be the better option. I can't recall a newer distillery that puts out a better bourbon than rye. This particular rye is as easy drinking as they come. The sample I graciously recieved from the venerable @ctbeck11 is nearly gone before I have the opportunity to note some of the flavors I pick up. Minty, dill, caramel, balanced sweet and spice. This is pretty down-the-middle in terms of rye, but it's very well done. I'd be a regular buyer at the $35ish range it appears to go for.
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@ctbeck11 @soonershrink That would probably be my ranking. I need to try new Riff Rye. Sounds like the best option to replace HW at that price. Has WhistlePig kept up their quality? At $75 and sourced it makes me nervous. I tried a 50 ml and it was great, but had at a cocktail class and it was poor (but part of me thinks they used something other than WP, the old switcharoo).
@angstrom Oooh that’s a good question. I’m aligned with @soonershrink here. Ignoring value, I’d rank them Willett, WhistlePig, New Riff, High West. New Riff gets a bump when you account for value. And if you can find Willett at SRP, it easily holds the top spot for me. The current incarnation of High West is at least one step below the others.
@angstrom I would rate the Double Rye as below the others by a good margin. I haven't tried the regular Rossville, only the barrel proof. My favorite of those would be the Willett, as it's so unique. It can also be hard to find and usually sells for around 60 when you can find it. I thought the Whistlepig was good, but don't think it's a great value at $80. It looks like I gave the New Riff the same rating as the Whistlepig; however, both were from smaller samples though, and I often find that my opinion changes over multiple pours while going through a bottle.
How would you rank this vs Willet, WhistlePig 10 yr, Rossville Union, and HW Double Rye? I have wanted to find a good replacement for Double Rye with its recent decline. These all seem to play in the same space.