A rye for malt lovers? | 50% ABV

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*A gateway rye with no sharp edges*

Are we all about barley?

At this site, and for most of our readers, there’s no doubt that whisky pot distilled from barley malt is no.1. It’s understandable many think it’s the pinnacle of whisky. I don’t disagree.

However, if you love whisky and not just one who enjoys scotch whisky or malted barley, you need to try rye. No doubt there’s enough excitement and variety in scotch to keep one happily occupied for a lifetime, but the unexamined life is not worth living.

On the back of my previous review, also a 100% rye, I declare autumn 2023 to be rye season. If I look back on my year, there were early signs that guided my path.

In spring, my wife and I visited Cincinnati, Ohio. She was running the Flying Pig marathon and I was a tag-along for the trip - emotional support for a weekend she had been preparing for over many months. I knew nothing about Cincinnati or the surrounding area and did no research. I showed up on time to catch the plane, a little confused as to why we couldn’t just drive there. Nevermind, I was more concerned with using the travel opportunity to order a SMWS bottle to the hotel.

I was more confused when we landed in Kentucky, which is just across the Ohio River from The Queen City. My gears started turning. Further research showed that unknown to me, New Riff distillery was a mere hop, skip and jump from Porkopolis. Once Caroline’s marathon was in the rearview mirror, I left her at the hotel to sleep it off and jumped in a cab and crossed the river to another state to see if I could catch a tour.

I found the distillery to be in the process of construction and tours were limited, but I was able to sit at the bar for a tasting. I made some friends, local Kentuckians and Buckeyes. Lovely, engaging people and the conversation was easy, of course lubricated by delicious bourbons and ryes. The personable tour guide joined us at the bar for a pour before heading home and I like to think I got the executive tour notes from him, even though I was unable to participate.

One thing came across as I sat at the bar tasting New Riff - these are some seriously good whiskies: Single cask bourbon and rye picks with unmistakable quality. Despite a common observation from me that mixed mashbills, column distillation, and mandated ageing in charred new oak barrels leads to a uniformity in the liquid that makes it hard to differentiate between bottlings, I was able to compare and contrast the different single barrels on offer. The characterful ryes are where I think the distillery shines and this ignited a bit of an interest in me.

The Kentuckians I had the pleasure of meeting all had an unmistakable sense of pride in their bourbon scene. This enthusiasm is palpable and a bit contagious - it’s fun to go along for the ride. Likely fuelled by American exceptionalism and overcompensation for the large shadow that scotch whisky casts over said exceptionalism, the mere mention of scotch whisky elicits a noticeable reaction, as if it were a dirty word. As my tongue was starting to loosen up while nosing a sherry-finished bourbon, I let slip I was a scotch whisky lover who mostly drink single malts. I could hear the record screech to a halt in my head as silence fell over the bar and all eyeballs turned my way. My face got hot and I sheepishly buried my nose in my glass as I waited for the attention to subside.

Review 1/2 - Aengus

Kentucky Straight Malted Rye Whiskey, 6yo, Distilled Fall 2016, 50% ABV
US$80 (£66) & Retail and availability. Available regionally

New Riff distillery is located in a parking lot in Newport, Kentucky, which it shares with a large strip mall-style liquor store called The Party Source. The story goes the owners of the liquor store decided to build a distillery in their parking lot. Once they had the distillery built they realised it’s against the law in Kentucky to both own a distillery and a liquor store, so they sold The Party Source and now just operate the distillery.

While rooted in the tradition of Kentucky distilling, the New Riff distillery isn’t afraid to wander from the usual business of making standard bourbons and ryes. They experiment with different strains and grains - this whiskey for example is made from 100% malted rye. They also try various cask finishes, and have recently released a new single malt.

The bottle design is interesting and I can see the black opaque top portion being a bit polarising. I like it because the bottle still appears full after enjoying the top portion. When the fill level drops to the lower half, the triple band black/clear/amber is a unique look.

Nose

Gingerbread, soft grass, orange, sweet cherry. Rye impressions are present but soft - not harsh. Floral, ripe red fruit, fruit candy, caramel, vanilla liqueur. Water brings more oaky notes.

Palate

Sweet heat, slight anice or liquorice candy, icing sugar. More red. Allspice and cloves, candied citrus, ginger, grape candy. Round and full, the sweetness is well integrated.

The Dregs

I didn’t buy this bottle that day in Kentucky. It was already sitting in my cabinet at home with a sample sent off to Broddy for his thoughts, which you can read below. I’ve lived with this bottle for the better part of a year and come back to it regularly. Initially, although pleasant, it didn’t rock my world and I was expecting it to lose some of its shine over time in the bottle which is something I find with a lot of bourbons. But to the contrary, the bottom third of the bottle is proving to be engaging.

I’m not sure I understand the difference that malted rye makes, but if I had to put my finger on it I’d say it takes a bit of the edge off the typical less-agreeable rye notes you get in un-malted ryes. A little more developed sweetness perhaps, and less pointy dill and caraway. In that respect I’d say maybe it could be one that bridges the gap for lovers of barley malt whisky.

Taking my dram out on the patio on a Saturday afternoon with smoke and meat, the autumn air cools my glass and the liquid becomes syrupy and sweet. For this task, rye is as good a companion as any peated or sherry cask.

Score: 6/10 AMc

Review 2/2 - Broddy

Something weird is going on and I love it.

Aengus kindly tossed a sample of this whiskey my way, although it was some time ago. He recently mentioned he wanted to hear my thoughts on it so I could have sampled it ahead of this review … but I was hesitant.

I’ve yet to connect and appreciate rye, so I pushed this aside out of trepidation. I appreciate Aengus forcing me to push my envelope and experience new whiskies so I wasn’t unhappy he sent it - I just had more trepidation towards a new whiskey than normal. I do want to find a rye I like so when I spied the handwritten “malted rye” on the bottle, I approached this sample with hope. Hope that perhaps the malting process would alter the rye enough that finally it would click and I would find my rye.

I was immediately enticed. It’s far closer to malted barley than pure rye and I wondered what the content of malted rye was in this whiskey? Hopefully Aengus has filled you in on that information in this review but I’m approaching this semi-blind with only “malted rye” to go on.

Score: 7/10

**Ver ystuff.**
***TL;DR***
*Don’t judge this by the label, everything is better than they suggest*

Nose

Deeply and richly spiced, like a freshly baked cinnamon spice loaf pulled from the oven. Background vanilla. Touch of wheat dustiness, like warm chaff dust from a combine. There’s traditional American whiskey notes of virgin charred oak throughout but it’s nicely kept in check, providing the bass line to this malted rye rock band. The ABV is nicely hidden as well.

Palate

Initially a lovely savoury peppery warmth envelopes my mouth. Once my taste buds warmed up, the flavours rushed in. Toasted bread - a mix of light rye and sourdough - drizzled with honey. Spiced loaf appears again plus a healthy dash of clove and touch of Demerara sugar. Once in a while, retronasal pops up bubblegum, something I find with virgin oak sometimes.

The finish is lightly sweet and fades relatively quickly. No funky rye (e.g., dill) is to be found.

The Dregs

The search is over. It’s happened, I’ve found my rye. Thank you Aengus.

All we need to do now is get this into the hands of our Dramface podcast host Gregor who claims rye whiskies are made from the devil’s grain. This will definitely convert his disdain into disbelief that a rye whiskey might actually be good, especially if he consumes this blind and checks his misconceptions at the door.

Now for the score. As with most subjective things, they can be fraught with distrust so let me set the scene. I don’t like rye whiskies. I would rank most in the 4-5 score range no matter the mashbill, casking, proof, or distillery. It’s just not my thing. But this is a rye for a malt drinker (albeit one who doesn’t mind the virgin oak influence) and I’m a malt drinker.

I like this enough that I’ve added it to my purchase list, waiting for it to go on sale enough that I’ll break my no purchases ban. So now you’ve gotten to know me and my preferences through the 60-odd whiskies I’ve reviewed so far, I hope you understand the score I’ve given this whiskey.

Score: 7/10 BB

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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