New Riff 6 Year Malted Rye
In-Depth Review
New Riff has been on an unprecedented hot streak ever since its founding in 2014. Created by Ken Lewis and Jay Erisman, New Riff Distillery was built in a parking lot in Newport Kentucky – far from the spiritual home of bourbon in Bardstown. You might be wondering – “why would anyone start a distillery in a parking lot?” Well, it so happens that Ken Lewis also founded The Party Source, the well-known Kentucky liquor store that just so happens to share that same parking lot. After selling The Party Source back to his employees, Lewis began to focus on building New Riff into a world class bourbon distillery – and has succeeded in less than a decade.
Since its founding, New Riff has always represented exactly what enthusiasts have been looking for from new bourbon distilleries. They focus on Bottled-in-Bond products, unique experimental grains, non-chill filtration, and deliver products at consistently approachable price points.
Today, we are going to dive into one of their latest releases – a 6 year 100% malted rye whisky that is bottled at 100 proof, features non-chill filtration, and comes in at a very reasonable $65. This unusual mashbill and grain is only one of the recent unusual expressions from new Riff and joins the likes of their Balboa Rye and Backsetter Rye that are designed to push the rye category to new and interesting directions. I picked this bottle up at Mission Liquor in Pasadena in March and was distilled in the fall of 2017. So, let’s dive in and see if this experiment paid off!
Age: 6 Years
ABV: 50%
Cask: New oak (I think - although difficult to confirm)
MSRP: $65
Distillery Name: New Riff
Review Date: 5/20/24
Color: Dark Rich Caramel
Nose: The nose starts off with coffee grounds, smoked meat, and lots of barrel char. There’s a lovely oaky backbone to the nose, mixed with burnt ends, spiced milk chocolate, and rose petals. On the first pour, the ethanol can jump out of the glass, but it settles down eventually. It’s a fun and interesting nose that has a good depth of character to it.
Palate: Here comes the spicy rye notes. The palate serves up spearmint, chocolate, and cream that combines to make an almost mint chocolate ice cream. There’s a touch of tobacco leaf, more coffee grounds, cinnamon sugar, and is rounded out by an herbal funk. Good mouthfeel that costs the tongue well – with the spice cranking the heat up more than you’d expect from 100 proof.
Finish: Medium length finish that lingers more on the side of the mouth than on the tongue. While the palate cranks up the rye spice, it turns sweeter on the finish with more vanilla, stewed fruits and a good chest warmth that reminds me of breaking in cinnamon sticks.
Final Thoughts: Consider New Riff’s Malted Rye a side quest on your whisky journey. It’s feels like a new adventure focused on delivering new rye flavors that will be enjoyable for even the casual drinker. The nose is fantastic, with a distinct coffee ground note that continue onto the palate before turning sweeter on the finish. It remains easy to enjoy and never enters the realm of “challenging”– even for your more traditional bourbon drinker. I can’t wait to see what other unusual experiments New Riff has been cooking up these last few years; if it’s anything like this 6 Year Malted Rye, they may become one of my favorite distilleries in Kentucky.
