Review #462 - Ol' New Riff 6 Year Bourbon

Each year, New Riff releases some limited expressions through their online Whiskey Club. In the Spring of 2024, they released two bottles: one bourbon and one rye, each under the brand name "Ol' New Riff." The reason for this name choice was their goal for the releases: to create an old-fashioned style bourbon, closer to the way it would have been back in the 19th century.

To do this, they made tweaks to a few pieces of the production cycle: for this bourbon version, they used a mashbill of 60% corn, 26% rye, and 14% two-row malted barley; this is a lower-rye version compared to their typical bourbon mashbill, and the barley component is higher. Additionally, those grains used in the mashing are heritage varieties, as opposed to the more efficient modern versions. The corn is composed of Blue Clarage and Yellow Leaming, and the rye component is Balboa rye.

Onto the maturation process - all of the staves used for these barrels were air-dried, as opposed to kiln-dried; generally, for oak to be effectively air-dried, it requires 12 to 36 months of resting outdoors in the elements, until the internal moisture content drops under 15% (cooperages are often targeting 12% moisture). The barrel entry proof for this bourbon was also lowered: 51.5% ABD (103 proof), much lower than the industry standards, which generally range from 55% ABV to 62.5% ABV.

The bourbon was aged for 6 years before bottling, and they choose the strength of 50% ABV (100 proof) to go along with the bottled-in-bond designation that this bottle (and many of their whiskies, in general) carries. As always, New Riff chooses not to chill filter their whisky so that maximum natural flavor can be delivered.

Also, one side note - we don't put a lot of stock into the bottle presentation or packaging of a whisky, instead letting the liquid do the talking. We still rated this bourbon based just on its flavor, but we also think this happens to be one of the better looking bottles and labels we've seen in quite some time. Top quality stuff from New Riff's design team.

Ol' New Riff 6 Year Bourbon

USA - Bourbon

Price: USD 55 (2024)

Age Statement: 6 Years

Strength: 50% ABV

Details: Not chill filtered, bottled 2024

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 5 months; bottles at 40%, 100%, 90% (blind tasting), and 70% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: Rich and sweet - maple sugars, brown sugar, molasses, and Luxardo cherries. Actually, there's a lot of fruit here: orange seeds and orange zest, blackberries, even wine gum candies. It's floral and fragrant, too - orange blossoms, maybe a bit of lavender. Cardamom, hints of dark chocolate, and leather add pleasant accent notes.

Palate: This has a medium thickness mouthfeel; the texture is velvety and buttery... really amazing texture. We get a juxtaposition of sweet butterscotch and smoky oak up front; chai spices, especially cardamom, come later. The fruit is reserved but still present... red apples, plums, and cherries, now. The lavender from the nose returns, but it's quite subtle.

Finish: Softer, more subtle, but still a medium length. Mellow cherry blossoms, some oak spice, just a hint of an herbal note from the grain; golden apples and creme brulee round out the sweeter notes. There is also a bit of anise and wood smoke in the aftertaste.

Final Note: In a world of powerful, barrel proof bourbons, this offering from New Riff offers a more subtle, nuanced take on the spirit, but it's all the better for it. This is a very good bourbon - elegant, with decent complexity and new flavors in each tasting. Giving this pour a decent amount of time to open up in the glass definitely helps, too, revealing more of those subtleties over an hour or so.

There's a softer side to this bourbon, a contrast when compared to many of New Riff's bourbons, which are rye-forward and spicy. This is sweeter, more fruity and more floral - lavender, orange, and cherry were especially prevalent - but it did still have a bit of spice, mostly from the oak influence.

Because of the fair prices set by New Riff for their special releases ($55, in this case), value is excellent, too. There aren't too many bourbons around the $50 price point that we would prefer to this one.

Our Average Rating: 7.6 / 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: 8.09

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.