I have to say it: this is the first New Riff I've had that isn't coming off for me. I seem to be in the minority here, or am I? I do wonder sometimes if the goodwill a decent distillery generates will find people willing to give them the benefit of the doubt when they release something that doesn't quite meet expectations, especially if they're swinging for the fences. And I should also frame this by saying that I still haven't had a bad New Riff. Everything I've read about this makes it sound ambitious and had me excited for it, but it's just not that enlivening. This is the kind of whisky where, when I taste it, and I see good reviews, I feel like I have to look them up to see what are other people getting that I'm not? Though it's a lower proof than a lot of other barrel/cask strength whiskies I drink, it's hot all around, the nose has an ethanol burn to it that prevents the whisky from offering any aromas other than oak and sweetness, but the sweetness is indistinct. It could be vanilla, could be cherry, I'm having trouble parsing that out against the heat. As I sit with it more, there might even be a bit of cocoa powder coming through, but none of them are strong enough to make me feel like I could sit here all day nosing it like I do with some whiskies. It's only about 114 proof, but I can't keep my nose near the glass long enough not to wince back after a few seconds, and the glass has been sitting for a while now. (To compare, earlier tonight, I had a glass of Larceny BP A124 and that's 124 proof and I had no such trouble enjoying the aroma of the bourbon). The palate has an herbal tea quality, the bergamot often found in certain ryes, with an underlying sweetness. Oak again with tobacco and maybe a hint of darker fruits, plum or blackberries. The palate is definitely stronger in terms of presentation than the nose, and though you can still feel the heat, the influence of the ethanol has been toned down considerably, though by the time it hits the back of your throat, the heat reasserts itself in a spicy finish. It's the kind of thing that they might refine for future releases, but I don't think they quite hit what they were going for here, and if I were going to buy it again, I'd wait for a future iteration rather than seeking out another bottle of the Fall 2023 bottling. Not quite enough to turn me away from New Riff, but it was pretty expensive for a bottle I didn't much enjoy. I kept hoping that with time and air, it might improve, but it's remained consistently slightly above average throughout the experience and certainly doesn't hold up in a lineup of better whiskies (I served this on Father's day right after Highland Park Cask Strength Batch 4, and let's just say, that while my dad drank it, he didn't look at me after his first sip and say, "Oh, that's really good" as he'll often do with most of the whiskies I serve him). Oh well.