New Riff Balboa Rye

The first specialty Whiskey from New Riff guys.

Ken Lewis has been selling Spirits for more than thirty years. He owned and ran one of the most successful retail stores in the country — The Party Source in Bellevue, Kentucky. He sold the company to his employees in 2014 and used the funds to launch New Riff Distillery with co-founder Jay Erisman in Newport that same year — just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. As head distiller Brian Sprance was distilling Spirits and laying down casks for aging, they sourced Spirits from MGP in Indiana and sold them under the O.K.I. band (now retired). They are now releasing their own complete line of house-crafted Spirits and are an official stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

New Riff Balboa Rye is the first specialty Whiskey these guys made. It’s also the first Balboa Rye Whiskey that’s been made in decades probably and the only one you can find on the market today. Now that’s special. Made with Balboa rye, which is a bit smaller than modern varieties, that was sourced from their corn farmer Charles Fogg, this lovely Whiskey offers you notes of spiced fruit that are different from their flagship New Riff Rye. With a mash bill of 95% heirloom Balboa rye and 5% malted rye, this barrel-proof expression was aged for 4 years to deliver a very well-rounded and full-bodied palate with lots of spiced fruit compote flavors.