New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Bottled In Bond

It's a situation I find myself in from time to time: I want to order a bottle that's online only from the PA Fine Wine & Good Spirits site. The bottle is $65 and shipping is about $12. If I order $99 of whisky, I get free shipping, and since I'm probably going to buy more whisky later in the month anyway, why essentially give away $12 when I can just add $35 and put the whole sum toward whisky. Sure I'm spending an extra $23, but it's all going toward something I want rather than a portion going toward something I want and another portion going toward transporting that thing toward me. So what do I do? I search the site for bottles that get me excited starting the filtering at $35 and working upward from there. I'm not going to tack on something I don't want just to get the free shipping. No, I'm going to buy a bottle I want. I'm just going to start with the lowest cost possible options. I can't remember what I ordered that this was the add-on for. It was probably about six months ago, and it's likely I drank whatever it was I ordered that I really wanted first and saved this for a time when I was in the mood for a New Riff. After all, I've had the New Riff Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye and the Barrel Proof Bourbon and both were excellent sips for the value. I also had the Bottled-in-Bond Rye and that was quite nice as well. To reach the Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon might have actually been working backward, since of these four, it's the least expensive as well as has the lowest community rating here, but it should be noted, that community rating is still a 3.8, which isn't too shabby for a $40 bottle. I have to admit that I haven't had many bottled-in-bond bourbons, so this is an area in which I have further explorations ahead of me. I've had Evan Williams BiB, which is touted as a best value, but I wasn't particularly a fan. It was all right and the price tag was fantastic, but to me, it was more a mixer and I don't make a lot of cocktails (unless my wife wants a cocktail, that's usually when I'll mix two and join her). I've also had the new Jack Bonded, which is similarly priced to this New Riff BiB and which was good though not as mind-blowing as its press would have you think. I always wanted to try the Henry McKenna back when it was $50 but it was always unavailable then, and now it's been hiked to $68 and from the reviews of people I trust on this site, it sounds like that's priced beyond the reward of its quality. Old Granddad is still on the list and it's widely available and affordably priced, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. And my go-to, given that it was $17 in PA was either Jim Beam Bonded or Old Tub, which struck me as pretty much the same whisky with Beam Bonded being chill-filtered and the Old Tub non-chill-filtered. Both of these reminded me a lot of summer carnivals after baseball games in that they combined caramel corn and peanuts with oak, sawdust and leather. They're probably not as good as the Jack Bonded, but much better than Evan Williams, and priced accordingly. As for this New Riff, I'd put it on par with the Jack Bonded, only the New Riff has a much different flavor profile. While the Jack Bonded was cherry syrup sweetness and bananas and and overall fruity sweetness, New Riff Bonded, much like other New Riff products, amps up the spice. One thing I like about New Riff, in fact, is that regardless of whether you have a rye or a bourbon, they all have a spicy rye edge, and favoring the spicy to the sweet, that's right up my alley. The nose on this one, the New Riff Bonded, is a combination of spice and caramel, quite peppery with the caramel adding a trace of sweetness and a little bit of leather mixed in. The palate keeps that going, upping the caramel and adding a hint of cherry, not to the extent that you find in the JD Bonded, but subtler, and a very nice touch. The finish is particularly interesting in that, as it fades, you get a combination of spice, mint, and tobacco, almost like a menthol cigarette without the nastiness of having to inhale smoke. Overall, even if this is better than the Beam Bonded or Old Tub, it's better only by degrees. While I'm much more likely to repurchase this than the JD Bonded because of the spice over the fruit, I'm not sure either is a run out and buy another straightaway, and might not actually ever be repurchases, but that's okay. Now, if only they could get more New Riff in my area beyond these four. I'm always reading about some new New Riff being released, whether it's Balboa Rye or Winter Whisky or Malted Wheat or Malted Rye, but they never seem to reach Pennsylvania or Jersey. Oh well. I'll keep an eye out whenever I travel. I always do.

Another bourbon geek event at the Ripy House https://www.tbripyhome.com/tbripyhome last night with Jay Erisman from New Riff. Jay is co-founder and V P of strategic development. He was a writer/reviewer at Whisky Advocate and spent twenty years opening and growing Party Source. Jay openly admits to knowing absolutely nothing about the distilling business when he got into it. He and his other co-founder just thought it would be cool to build a distillery in the parking lot. They did. The site is a few hundred yards from the Ohio River but their water source is a deep underground aquifer under the parking lot. It was most enjoyable hearing about the trials and tribulations of getting started and seeing his passion about his product and the future. He had WT 101 during the cocktail hour and noted that the WT mashbill is very close to his own. We tasted both the bib versions and sb's of his rye and bourbon. They make enough rye that they mash more rye than corn. My favorite was the bib bourbon. At four years, the ethanol is faint. He claims that this is due to the 110 proof barrel entry. Butterscotch is first to greet you on the nose and I get some nutmeg and green apple. The SB is similar with the alcohol more evident. Flavors are big vanilla and caramel, maybe a touch of cherry pie. Not much heat on the bib but the sb at only eight more proof is quite hot. A couple drops of water amps up the flavor. Finish is a bit short for my liking. Both are solid bourbons. The sb is about half again in price and offers me nothig but heat that I don't get in the bib. The bib is a bit more expensive than RR 10 so I think I will try them one on one. It was a great evening and I quite enjoyed the tastings and especially the stories.

High rye (65% corn, 30% rye, 5% malted barley) straight sour mash bourbon, distilled Fall 2020, aged at least 4 years, 50% ABV bottled in bond whiskey. Tasting neat. Browned copper color and average coating legs in the glass. Nose is sweet grain, dried fruit, light maple syrup, with a hit of spicy grass in the background. On the palette, dry tannic oak and burnt brown sugar up front. Dry and oily. Dark leather, cigar box, earthy, but with some floral cherry vanilla and an ethanol burst that takes us into the finish. There, the spicy grassy peppery qualities of the high rye take over. Tingling mint, sweet but slightly sour, and still dry. Not astringent, not mouth-puckering, but dry. Pleasant, and lasts a long time. An ice cube tames the tannins and the rye spice, but doesn't erase them. Still dry. This is a challenging, grownup bourbon, not just a sweet/vanilla bomb. First sip caught me by surprise, then enjoyed it more and more. More like a double oaked rye. Great sipping whiskey at a reasonable price if you want to wrestle with the first drink of the evening and then move on with ice, or to something else. Will keep tasting and thinking, and revisit this as I do. First impression? Very strong.

Nose- oak and vanilla are the primary notes. Slight cinnamon and spice. Palate- oak and vanilla doninate to start then give way to the spice notes. Somewhat dry. Baking spices linger. Cinnamon and nutmeg. Finish- a spicy finish that hangs out for awhile. Oak and spice doninate. Vanilla pops back in the long the finish lingers. Overall- A nice bottled in bond whiskey from a smaller distillery. A high rye offering that has plenty of spice. It has all the hallmarks of a bourbon: oak, vanilla, spice. A little more complexity would take this bourbon to the next level, but this is a great whisky nonetheless.

Pretty good. Not a lot to the nose- pretty cut and dry young oak and vanilla. A bit of jammy peach-like notes in there too. Vanilla opens up big on the palette with a honey sweetness. Tastes like a high rye profile- a little bit of that jammy fruit with the green tea flavor / rye spice comes out, mostly on the tail end. It’s youth shows a little on the tail end, but only if your passing attention. Finishes hangs for a little bit, dissipating into a white pepper spice

On the nose it seems light; I do pick up a medicinal note, and a hint of a floral note and it finishes with rye spice. On the plate that medicinal note is front and center overpowering anything else except the rye spice that it rolls right into. There is another flavor, maybe the floral note or vanilla, trying to fight through the strong medicinal taste. Still not a bad pour but lacks some complexity.