Sometime in early 2019, I decided to join the New Riff Whiskey Club. I’m thinking it was right around the time I visited the distillery for the first time on a Spring trip to Kentucky. The New Riff Whiskey Club is a way for bourbon fans to get early access to the special bottles that the distillery puts out. These tend to be interesting “riffs” on traditional bourbon that are only made in limited quantities. They use unique grains or processes that let them play around a little bit and satisfy their curiosity.
Best of all, unlike the record clubs of old, there is no obligation to buy anything. Of course, you also don’t get 12 bottles of whiskey for a penny, either.
The Fall 2020 slate consisted of two bourbons—the Maltsters—created using malted flavoring grains, malted wheat, and, In tonight’s case, malted rye. They also re-released a rye whiskey, Balboa Rye, that uses local heirloom rye grains. I was able to get my hands on the two Maltsters. The Balboa was already sold out by the time my order was placed.
I was a little nervous about this one. I’ve had plenty of craft distilled rye whiskeys that use malted rye as part of their mash bill. And to be honest, the malted rye is usually my least favorite part of the flavor profile. Many of those ryes get used as cocktail ingredients to help disguise that malted rye flavor. I’ve also had one bourbon that used malted rye. I liked that one quite a bit, but the malted rye flavor really made its presence known and I needed to be in the mood for it.
But enough stalling, let’s see how New Riff handles Malted Rye in their bourbon.
New Riff Maltster Bourbon with Malted Rye
Purchase Info: $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle through the New Riff Whiskey Club website.
Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33
Details: 5 years old. 50% ABV. Mash bill: 65% Corn. 30% Malted Rye, 5% Malted Barley
Nose: Cherry, leather, a touch of mint, and vanilla.
Mouth: Cherry, bubble gum, cinnamon, mint, and a touch of oak.
Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Lingering cinnamon, mint, cherry cough syrup.
Thoughts: This is a beautiful whiskey. As I said, I'm not usually a fan of whiskies that contain malted rye, but this is wonderful. The "malted rye flavor" that I've found in the other whiskeys I’ve had that use malted rye is either not present or is so well integrated that the flavor isn’t noticeable. Of course, maybe the folks at New Riff just handle it differently than the other distillers I've tried. Being brewers before they were distillers, they tend to take a different look at ingredients and processes.
I much prefer this neat rather than with water. I thought water brought out too much nuttiness. At 100 proof though, neat is just fine. I'm really glad I got my hands on a bottle.
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