New Riff Distilling releases oldest Bourbon to date

The eight-year-old whiskey from New Riff will be a permanent addition to the Kentucky distillery’s core lineup.

The new whiskey tasks New Riff’s flagship four-year-old Bourbon, made from a mash of 65% corn, 30% rye and 5% malted barley, and ages it for an additional four years. Like its flagship Bourbon, it is bottled at 50% ABV. “As much acclaim as we have received from the Bourbon community for our four-year-old, bottled-in-bond and single barrel offerings, we knew the real excitement would come from genuinely older whiskey,” co-founder Jay Erisman said. “And here it is — the beginning of the future and the next wave of New Riff.” The eight-year-old Bourbon is notably not bottled in bond, unlike many New Riff’s other releases. To provide wider distribution, the distillery blended whiskies from two distilling seasons; otherwise, the release adheres to bottled-in-bond guidelines. “New Riff remains entirely committed to producing bottled-in-bond whiskey,” Erisman said. “Ongoing production and future releases at younger ages will absolutely continue with our groundbreaking paradigm of bottled-in-bond without chill filtration.” In a nod to the whiskey’s age statement, the Bourbon will be available beginning 8 March at the distillery and online and nationwide in the following weeks. It is priced at US$68 and features savoury and spicy flavours as well as an abundance of rye spice. “Oaky flavours throughout are richer yet, importantly, not at all tannic or drying,” Erisman said. “Rather, the freshness evident here is exceptional, suggesting a barrel of New Riff Bourbon at eight years old has a long life of ageing ahead of it.” Earlier this year, the brand announced that Brian Sprance, who has served as head distiller for New Riff since it was founded in 2014, had been promoted to master distiller. Sprance was mentored by Larry Ebersold and, together with Erisman, launched the distillery and developed its flavour profiles and ageing regimen. New Riff is based in Newport, Kentucky, which is just on the other side of the Ohio River from Cincinnati. It is a part of the B-Line, a self-guided Bourbon tour of Northern Kentucky.