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Wednesday, June 7, 2017

New Riff Distilling O.K.I. Reserve 10 Year Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $50
- 97.75 Proof
- 10 Years
- Batch No. 20

I heard an interview with one of the owners of New Riff out of Newport, Kentucky, and, although I can't remember exactly who it was that was interviewed, I recalled appreciating the fact that they were very open about their distillery, their operations, and their business plan. In particular, she discussed their release of O.K.I., a bourbon they were sourcing and bottling as a means of keeping hte business afloat while their own distillate comes to maturation.

O.K.I. is a 10  year bourbon sourced from MGP in Indiana. New Riff never looked to hide that fact, even incorporating that fact as part of the brand (O.K.I. stands for Oklahoma, Kentucky and Indiana). Based upon that fact, and the fact that I've generally enjoyed the longer-aged products coming from MGP, I wanted to give this a try. Unfortunately, I can't get it in Illinois, so I had to wait a few months until my next trip to Louisville, but even though I was on a budget, this was the bottle I knew I was coming home with on that trip.

The nose is soft and full of vanilla and sweet pipe tobacco, that kind of sweet smell you get when you pass one of those specialty tobacco stores and the scent just wafts out the front door. It also had a kind of floral note to it, like lilac bushes, though it wasn't as strong as those flowers can be.

In flavor it struck me as very traditional, heavy on the vanilla and toffee. Towards the end it had a slight cinnamon spice as well as a light smoke on the finish. It was very bold and rich, full of flavor from beginning to end. The finish was long and the toffee flavor just seemed to linger forever, as though I let a Heath bar just sit and melt in my mouth.

Over time it seemed to sweet up and develop even more complexity. In addition to the sweet vanilla and toffee flavors, a more savory cocoa note came through, that played very well with the heavy vanilla. Perhaps it was those two flavors together or something completely new, but it also seemed to add in a peanut flavor. The cinnamon spice remained but was joined towards the end by a welcome orange-citrus note, just enough to make it interesting.

Although I wanted to savor this bottle, I found myself going back to it over and over again because I enjoyed it so much. I delayed a bit in opening it after I bought it, but once it was open, I couldn't help but make my way through this bottle relatively quickly. I was pleasantly surprised at just how much I enjoyed this bourbon, and I'm surprised it hasn't received more attention!

Grade: A

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