New Riff Single Barrel Bourbon – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Tasting Notes
EYE
Dark amber
NOSE
Toffee, cornbread, toasted sourdough bread, spice, dark fruit, hay, oak and touches of clay and vanilla.
PALATE
Oak, caramel, spearmint, vanilla, sourdough, citrus peels, roasted grain and nutmeg-heavy spice.
FINISH
Long -> Oak, spice, caramel, fun dip and soap.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Good sense of balance, full body and an oily-meets-effervescent feel.
New Riff Single Barrel Bourbon – Overall
Aroma is warm and oaky, approaching an almost musty funk along with the sweetness… like an olde tyme candy shop that needs airing out; Palate gets more oak and spice, but walks along the same path more-or-less; Finish picks up an interesting soapiness that strangely doesn’t detract at all, but is light enough to work well.
Just like with the regular bourbon, this is a fun and tasty whiskey I recommend to just about anyone looking for something new.
New Riff Single Barrel Bourbon – Final Thoughts and Score
Sweetly rustic with an odd effervescence to it, this NRSiBB is good, but feels a bit like it’s holding back. Like it could offer more, but just isn’t. We know the regular New Riff Bourbon Bonded is fantastic, but this particular SiB comes in just a tad on the weak side.
And this is the inherent, potential, pitfall of a single barrel product. Sometimes it can be better than the regular release, sometimes worse and sometimes right on par. This New Riff Single Barrel Bourbon is just a tad “less-than” when compared to the regular bonded bourbon release. That said, it’s still head and shoulders above many others in the craft game today.
Net-net, this is interesting and I’ll definitely be picking up another at some point with the hopes of getting a bottle of New Riff Single Barrel Bourbon that outpaces the regular release.
New Riff Single Barrel Bourbon Review $50
Summary
I like the regular BiB bourbon more than this particular single barrel, but it’s still tasty. It’d recommend one of these SiB’s to just about anyone.
Overall
- Nose
- Palate
- Finish
- BBF
User Review
( votes)( reviews)
Appreciated the review notes from you guys and I definitely concur with much of your takeaways. That “soapy”, lingering, heavy-tongue feel is legit. I decided to go the route of the VanWinkle family preparation (a couple cubes of ice and a lemon twist) and it seems to keep that “soapy” note at bay. Cheers!
Thanks for sharing Matt, cheers!
When I read the words “holding back” in your review, I couldn’t have agreed more. My bottle of New Riff SiB seemed like a shy person who I knew was really interesting and yet I couldn’t really engage in a conversation. So your review inspired me to open the New Riff Single Barrel private selection from Skurnik that I had stashed in the bunker. This one is from the “Ninth Floor” which I assume is the top floor of the rickhouse, so I expected some more punch. And I was not disappointed. This private selected is great stuff, very complex, with that pleasant nose of musty leaves that I associate with older whiskies. Tasting the two side by side confirmed my impressions. Such are the travails of single barrels.
Indeed it is. This was awesome, loved the analogy and SBS tasting results. Thanks for sharing JMW, cheers!