New Riff Sour Mash Kentucky Single Malt Whiskey Review

BOTTLE DETAILS

• DISTILLER: New Riff Distilling
• MASH BILL: 100% malted barley made from five unique mash bills. (See details in brand notes.)
• AGE: At least 7 years
• YEAR: Fall 2023
• PROOF: 113.8
• MSRP: $69.99
• BUY ONLINE: New Riff Online Shop

STEVE'S NOTES

SHARE WITH: All whiskey fans–bourbon-only devotées especially–who are open to broadening their flavor horizons with an outstanding pour.

WORTH THE PRICE: Absolutely. It's a bargain.

BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bottle. Consider two if you have the extra cash.

OVERALL: While interviewing cofounder Jay Erisman for an upcoming story, he started the, "Let's taste this, and that, and this" routine that owners feel free to do. That made for a fun morning, but it added up to a volley of tastes whose parting shot was this sour mash single malt. I'm not sure if he planned it to come last, but it was a show stealer, which is saying a lot given all the nips along the way.

The color alone is striking, a deeply red cherrywood stain. The nose is dense and captivating with cooked dark fruits and molasses leading off with cinnamon, allspice, fresh peach and raspberry rounding out the whole. (When you read the array of malts involved in this, you'll get the idea.) The palate is bright and busy, leading with orange rind, dried roses, ground espresso and a little smoke from the Scottish peated barley malt. Hold it in your mouth for just a bit to get blackberries and dark chocolate. I don't smoke anything other than foods, but I'd imagine pipe and cigar smokers would love to let this wrestle atop the palate with smoke from either of the two.

As dark and brooding as those flavors are, the whiskey finishes cleanly, lightly and just barely warm. Smoke and minerality remain along with clover honey, golden raisins, cooked cereal grains and lingering chocolate notes. This is a terrific and dynamic whiskey.

If you didn't notice "Kentucky Single Malt Whiskey" in the name, take note. Erisman and master distiller Brian Sprance wanted to render all that barley not as Scotch, but as a Kentucky-style whiskey made using a column still and doubler. Though my upcoming story on Erisman will reflect his take on this, visit Erisman's detailed blog about this process for nerdy-nerdy details. You won't regret it. It certainly affirmed my belief in the creativity of American whiskey makers.

BRAND NOTES

New Riff’s Sour Mash Single Malt Whiskey is a provocative new riff on the hallowed traditions of malted barley. Comprised of five different mash bills, and slowly matured in a multiplicity of cask types, this unprecedented whiskey welds Old World inspiration to Kentucky’s sour mash technique. Distilled in our column beer still and doubler, it weaves a wealth of malty flavors into oaken age: a bold new concept in the time-honored Kentucky whiskey regimen.

Our five mash bills include:

• 100% Maris Otter, a classic British ale malt
• 100% Golden Promise, a classic Scotch whisky malt
• Barleywine-style, after high gravity, heavy bodied barleywine ales
• Belgian quadrupel-style, in the fashion of rich, mellow Trappist ales
• 100% Scottish peated barley malt, heavily smoked and pungent

Steve's note: The six cask types used to age these whiskeys are not listed in New Riff's brand notes. Their influence on the combined whiskey is profound, so I've chosen to add them here: new charred oak; used de-charred/toasted oak; used de-charred/re-charred oak; red wine barrels (French and American oak); Portuguese brandy casks; and Oloroso sherry casks.

Nose: Broad, deep and heady, with many barrel notes (oaky, sherried oak, toasty); with time, it develops rich malty fruity grains; a splash of water advances complicated grainy detail, showing grassy-mineral malt, dark fruit cacao nibs, orange-lemon citrus, and a wisp of smoke and ozone.

Palate: Straight-up, the oak is forward and layered (oloroso sherry, red wine, brandy, new oak), chewy texture, and drying but not tannic; with water, a strikingly juicy entry, bright fruit and citrus peel; it is dryish and tinged with sweetening fruits; a BIG Kentucky-style body, savory-soft thick-cut texture with red and dark fruit, cocoa powder, grassy-nutty malt, a shading of sherry oak and a suggestion of smoke.

Finish: Exceptionally zesty, even delicate, the fruited (raspberry, tangerine rind, bergamont-orange) components lifted up in a whiskey-ozone-air and framed with the sherry-branded oak, late lemon curd and a vanishing air-kiss of peat smoke.