New Riff Continues Malted Rye Whiskey Experiment With Sherry Finish

(Photo: New Riff)

Kentucky distillery New Riff, founded in 2014 with the tagline “new riff on an old tradition,” has unveiled its latest release, a limited-edition Sherry Finished Malted Rye Whiskey. This expression is bottled at barrel strength and without chill filtration. It was secondarily aged in oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks.

This release builds on New Riff’s previous experimentation with untraditional malted rye whiskey.

“Last year we released our Malted Rye Whiskey, and experiencing its remarkably elegant, sophisticated character gave us another idea,” co-founder Jay Erisman said in a news release. “We think of it as a malt whiskey first and a rye whiskey second, which raised the question: what would happen if we treated it like other malt whiskies and aged it in sherry casks?”

For this release, New Riff imported 53-gallon Spanish sherry casks and filled them with its 5-year-old New Riff Malted Rye Whiskey. Twelve oloroso and three Pedro Ximenez casks were filled with whiskey and aged another year, giving the whiskey an age statement of six years, before being vatted in fall 2021 and left to marry and condition together for several following months until they were bottled in spring 2022.

New Riff Sherry Finished Malted Rye Whiskey is available in May at a suggested retail price of $64.99. It is available in limited quantity where New Riff is distributed and through New Riff’s Whiskey Club.

New Riff Sherry Finished Malted Rye Whiskey

Nose: Buttery, sherry, with notes of walnut and a hint of vanilla

Taste: Savory character fills the mouth with flavors of sappy sherry coupled with malty grain

Finish: A late bursting finish of brightening spices such as clove and wood spice with multicolored fruit skin

Last month, New Riff’s Bottled in Bond Bourbon was crowned winner at a blind-tasting event at Smoke Justis in Covington, Kentucky.

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