I'm always excited to crack open a new New Riff bottle. In our state, we have four regularly available: their two standard 4 year bonded offerings in rye and bourbon and single barrel varieties of both. In a trip to Jersey, I got the balboa rye, which I've already reviewed here as well as the malted rye 6 year, which I've had open for maybe a month now. I was just reading up on what malted rye is and similar to single malts made with malted barley, they let the rye germinate to give it a starchier more sugary quality, which in turn, results in a gentler, smoother whisky. Which is certainly true here. This may be the tamest nose I've had on a New Riff. Which doesn't mean bad, just subtle, just you have to let it sit for a while and tease the aromas out. Aromas of coco powder and brown sugar are evident along with caramel and mint with a slight woody muskiness. All the prominent rye scents are present but not overwhelming. This isn't a rye to announce itself straight out the gate as brawny, burly, like say, a Knob Creek Single Barrel might. Then again, this is also 100 proof instead of 115. The palate is spicy and fruity all at once with cinnamon, cherries and maybe a bit of orange zest as well as dark chocolate on the back end. It's the dark chocolate flavor that leads into the finish which is medium in length and full of baking spice, not just cinnamon but nutmeg as well with the mint from the nose making an encore appearance. Overall, I think I prefer the brasher New Riff bottlings I've had in the 4 Year Bonded Rye and Single Barrel bourbon. This is good, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure anything about it stands out enough for me to want to pay nearly $70 to get another bottle. Overall, if you see it at a bar and like New Riff, it wouldn't be a bad order to sample, and this bottle certainly won't go to waste, but it's not a rebuy I'm sorry to say.