Hello friends! I’m back to raiding the ol’ whiskey closet again. This time it’s one that was purchased much more recently than last week’s. Well, one of last week’s at least. In fact, this one was picked up on the same May RV trip as the 2025 edition of Old Bardstown we talked about last week.
I used to say that no trip to Kentucky was complete without a stop at The Party Source in the Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati. Back when I started this site, it was the best place to buy bourbon I’d ever seen. These days, well, it’s basically just another store with a good, but not great, bourbon selection. But while the bourbon selection in the store is now a husk of its former glory of a decade ago, it still has one benefit that few liquor stores do: a distillery in its parking lot.
And a good distillery, too. New Riff was founded back in 2014 by Ken Lewis, former owner of the aforementioned liquor store. The About Page on their website states that the goal was “to someday be counted among the world’s great small distilleries,” which, in my opinion, they’ve already achieved. I’ve seldom had something I disliked from New Riff. And when I didn’t like something, it was usually more about my personal taste than the quality of the product itself. In fact, I like their stuff so much that during the pandemic I made a mad dash two-day trip to Cincinnati and back just to pick up a pre-order I had purchased (thinking things wouldn’t get as bad or as crazy as they did…oops).
So while I might not feel the need to stop into the liquor store anymore. If I’m in Northern Kentucky, I always feel compelled to stop at New Riff. Mostly because I almost always find something worth bringing home. Like tonight’s whiskey: an eight-year-old bourbon that, unlike most of the distillery’s offerings, is not Bottled in Bond. Here’s what their website has to say about that decision:
While New Riff is committed to bottled-in-bond standards, we made the difficult decision to waive that status for this release, focusing on a wider distribution network than previous specialty releases. Despite meeting all other requirements of a bonded whiskey, due to the comparatively small production from the earliest years of New Riff, this release blends bourbons from two distilling seasons aged a minimum of 8 years.
So I think this guy has sat in my closet long enough, let’s see how it tastes, shall we?
New Riff 8-year-old Bourbon
Purchase Info: $67.99 for a 750 mL bottle at the New Riff Distilling gift shop, Newport, KY.
Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.53
Details: 50% ABV. 8 years old. Mash bill: 65% corn, 30% rye, 5% malted barley
Nose: Toffee, vanilla, mint, almond, and oak.
Mouth: Vanilla, caramel, cinnamon, oak, and red fruit.
Finish: Medium to medium long and warm with notes of cinnamon, caramel, red fruit, and oak.
Thoughts: Absolutely delicious. Richly flavored with nice caramel and baking spices throughout. There is an abundance of rye influence. Not surprising given 30% rye mashbill. The added age gives it a nice hit of oak, though I honestly think this could handle even more age, should they have held any more back. All in all, I really like this one.
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