Review #321 - New Riff Malted Rye Sherry Finish
Another riff on New Riff's MGP-like rye: this time, on top of malting the rye grains, they also finished the whisky in sherry casks. Both Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks were used, so we're looking for lots of sweet red fruit flavors in this bottle.
Unlike a lot of New Riff's whiskies, this is not a bottled-in-bond product - that's because they chose to present this at barrel proof, instead of their traditional 50% ABV, and because of the sherry finishing, which isn't allowed by the BIB regulations. Like all of the distillery's whiskies, this is not chill filtered.
New Riff Malted Rye Sherry Finish
USA - Rye
Current Locally Available Price: USD 150 (2024)
Age Statement: 6 Years
Strength: 56.35% ABV
Cask Makeup: Finished in ex-Oloroso and ex-PX sherry casks
Details: Not chill filtered, bottled 2022
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 2 months; bottles at 50% and 50% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: A flavor bomb full of fruits: orange peel, cranberries, strawberries, blackberries, and prunes across our tastings. Lots of rich, dark, stewed fruit, and then some spices: brown sugar, cardamom, a bit of peppery oak, too. Quite juicy, and in the background, interesting spirit and cask character: funky, earthy, and savory - almost meaty.
Palate: A medium-thick mouthfeel, and it's a huge, juicy palate: red fruits of raspberry and strawberry, a darker complexion with wood char and hints of barbecue, some peppery spice. Orange fruit arrives, and we get a fizzy sensation, hinting at that rye grain; bruleed sugar and an earthy note are background flavors.
Finish: Medium length, still cask dominated, with both sweet and spicy notes. The rye grain, while slightly muted by the malting, is still adding a pepper spice and grain character, but it's mostly covered by oranges, strawberries, and earthy sherry. There's some cinnamon spice in time, and it's quite warming; in the aftertaste, we got notes of tart cherry juicy.
Final Note: Awesome whisky, so packed full of flavor. It is definitely a cask-dominated whisky, with tons of earthy and fruity sherry notes taking over; in the background, there are still little hints of rye, but that part of the experience is quite soft. It has a great mouthfeel with that barrel proof strength, and it's relatively complex, given some time to open up in the glass.
At the original pricing, this would be an amazing value whisky; because it was a one-time release, however, now it's only available on the secondary market, where the price is a bit higher due to a limited number of bottles. Recent auction prices put this around $150...still, for such a flavor bomb, it isn't a bad deal at that price, either.
Our Average Rating: 8.8 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.59
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other New Riff reviews:
Review #318 - New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye
Review #314 - New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Review #306 - New Riff 8 Year Bourbon
Review #290 - New Riff 7 Year Sour Mash Single Malt
Review #226 - New Riff Silver Grove
Review #72 - New Riff Balboa Rye
