New Riff Announces Details on Ol'New Riff

Photo by Andrew Cornelius

I've been a big fan of New Riff Distilling and their whiskies since I visited the distillery back in 2022. I like the distillery story -- a scrappy upstart founded in 2014, independent & family owned, and committed to making quality Kentucky Bourbon. More importantly, I like the whiskies they make, from the Kentucky Straight Bourbon to the Kentucky Straight Rye.

New Riff ferments with the Sour Mash Method and bottles without Chill Filtration

I was thrilled to hear that they are releasing not one, but two new bottles: Ol’ New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Ol’ New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey. From New Riff's press release on May. 17, 2024, https://www.bevnet.com/pr/2024/05/17/new-riff-releases-ol-pair-of-whiskeys, Jay Erisman frames the new bottles as answers to questions:

“Suppose New Riff could have existed 120 years ago? And made whiskey the way they did back then — what would that taste like, using our aquifer water and our location and equipment? We did everything we could to emulate the mindset of a Northern Kentucky distiller circa 1900.” -- Jay Erisman, Co-Founder and VP

Ol’ New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey has a mash bill consisting of 60% heirloom corn, 26% balboa rye and 14% malted barley. Assistant head distiller Byron Martin describes the flavor as "a juicy, fruit-forward malted sweetness flavor, with a long, but pleasant spiced finish." This will be an exciting bottle to try because it builds on New Riff's strength of diversified mash bills, but also uses flavorful stand-outs Blue Clarage and Yellow Leaming corn as a base.

Ol’ New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey leans rye-heavy by changing up the mix to 65% balboa rye, 30% heirloom corn and 15% malted barley. Martin says that the rye "opens with fresh oak, muddled sweet mint and a touch of citrus on the nose, packing a spicier oak and macerated darker fruits and berries flavor with a full, but rounded spiciness of clove and nutmeg finish." You still get the heirloom ingredients, but in a spicy rye dominant package.

Photo by Andrew Cornelius

The good news is that these whiskies sell for a reasonable suggested retail price of $54.99. The bad news is that you have to be a member of New Riff's Whiskey Club (I'm not, but I should be) and the bottles are pickup only (as in onsite, not that you have to drive a pickup). Later, you might be able to pick up a bottle as it becomes available in limited quantities across Kentucky retailers and in flights and pours at the distillery's Aquifer Tasting Room.