First, the best part of this episode is the last 60secs. Second, hats off to J&E. They don't use vulgar words in the videos. Vulgarity takes value away from the content. I like that I can watch an episode on the big screen and don't have to worry when the kids are walking around the house. Big thank you!
Been preaching the New Riff rye for a while now. To me, it's a hidden gem that punches way above its price, competing quite well with other darlings of the rye world that cost four times its price. Another really unique rye I've been telling people about is FEW Rye out of Evanston, Illinois. It's a fantastic rye with a very unique and pleasant flavor profile (just make sure you get their Straight Rye and not their Immortal Rye that incorporates Oolong tea - it's good, too, but it changes the flavor profile significantly). FEW also makes some great bourbons and whiskeys. In my market, they're readily available and very reasonably priced (the last time I bought one, their Straight Rye was $40).
We've heard about FEW from friends in the Chicago area and definitely need to get our hands on a bottle. We think you're spot on with the 4x metric on New Riff as well. It's crazy how good their stuff is for the age and money. Cheers and thanks for watching man!
Good review, thanks for posting it. I haven’t had the opportunity to try either of these, but Pikesville is on my list to get. Looking forward to your reviews in 2022!
Thank you Josh for finding that Root Beer note in New Riff, thought I was going crazy. Michter's Rye also has in my opinion that root beer note as well. Thank you for for being candid!
Both of these are always in my liquor cabinet. But I got to say, WT Rare Breed Rye is better for slightly less money. So if I could only buy one it would be Rare Breed but I can buy as many as I want and I love variety so I'm buying them all.
Variety is the spice of life, right? We have Rare Breed Rye in our blind head-to-head pool against both of these and can't wait for those matchups to pop up!
Back when I first became bourbonated, I imprinted on Pikesville without even knowing rye was a thing. I just thought it was lyrics from "American Pie." A friend said, "here try this." It was Pikesville and I took to it. My nose understood the sweetness and my tongue interpreted the spice as a tiny hint of anise. It was also the highest proof my Average Joe Sixpack mouth had ever tasted. Then my friend said, "if you think that's great, you should try Old Overholt." That was interesting, sort of, and I spent a bit of time being tossed about by the fickle winds of rye. Then, a few months ago, I had my first taste of New Riff 6-Year Malted Rye (slightly different profile from NR's BP rye but similar DNA). "Well golly, says I. The known horizon just got bigger." Your blind comparison is a year old, but it touches on my bourbon origin story, and brought back warm memories, so I had to chime in. Thank you. Long may you run.
Today's (2/10/22) drop brought me back to compare the two New Riff takes...as much as I dig their bourbon, gotta get a bottle, but not quite enuf to ship, I'll snag one in the spring. I have gotten a Pikesville (and, well, Sazerac) in the interim month...I like your lemon and honey take.
Jack Daniel's Barrel Proof Rye for sure. Specially the 2020 Special Release, but the new single barrels are great as well. Jack Daniel's does rye really well in our book.
I can day the standard single barrel cask strength new riff is already a high rye bourbon. To me it is the best of both worlds sweet corn and spice of rye on back is everything I want in a good bourbon.
"Everything I want in a good bourbon" is maybe the single best description we've heard of New Riff Barrel Proof. Well said, Thomas. Cheers and thanks for watching!
I know this was a year ago, and I am a new subscriber, wish I was sooner to your channel. Love your blind tasting, love the thought process behind the scoring, and really appreciate the content. You two are fun, honest and have real tasting talent. Keep it up!
Availability is a fickle thing, in New England pikesville is kinda allocated, often marked up, and not the most easy to find during certain times of the year
For sure. We've forgotten to say it but our scoring rubric is designed to meet people wherever they are in their own tastes and opinions and locations, and if you were to use it, you'd likely get a different score than we do. Great comment Michael and a good reminder for us to be sure to mention that. Cheers and thanks for watching!
Your completing a barely legal rye 51% Pikesville against a 95% rye New Riff. Is that apples and oranges? Regardless, I prefer the Pikesville for better mouthfill and flavor. 6 year old and 110 proof. My go to rye.
We've found that apples and oranges don't really apply when tasting totally blind. When you know what you're looking for, knowing the mashbills can influence a single blind tasting, but when you're double blind it's all fair game (example: a high rye bourbon vs a wheated bourbon, which most people couldn't pick out in a double blind format, is one a lot of folks love to say is apples to oranges). Said differently, mashbills are just recipes and they don't matter nearly as much as the actual flavor profile of the pour in the glass. Great question though. We were in the “apples to oranges” camp before doing so many blind tastings ourselves.
@@stuffandwhiskey Youu two are correct! I'm sorry to say I missed the first few minutes of this episode due to grand kid interventions so kinda missed the double blind intro. I get it now lol! That's for the great video!
were yall looking in my windows?? My new riff single barrel rye and bourbon arrived today and i always have some pikesville on hand. I guess i know my blind tonight.
Wow I was always a Pikesville guy but the new riff brings back memories of mom making fresh bread on the nose. The taste is amazingly fruity/sweet to me. A definite rebuy I hope the bourbon is as good.
Riff is better!? No no no. Definitely Pikesville all the way. I’ve had the chance to taste 2 different Riff’s at a tasting and I wasnt impressed. And I have over 100 bottles here at my bar. Maybe I should start my channel again 🤦🏻♂️
Start it up! We're all about more content to appeal to the various palates out there. One thing we have noticed is that the New Riff store/group picks can vary wildly, but the standard release single barrel barrel proof offerings seem to be much more consistent. That said, it's still single barrel roulette and Pikesville is certainly going to offer a much more consistent experience.
We keep a spreadsheet with some weighted averages for products that have been in multiple tastings (like Pikesville for example) that's accessible over on our Patreon page in the Whiskey Nerd tier. Thanks so much for watching Rob! Cheers!
I've really come to enjoy Ryes a lot this year, but I still haven't seen any New Riff here. I also have a Heaven Hill sample pack with Pikesville in it, but I haven't cracked it open yet. I need to find someone who will sample the whole pack with me... or maybe I'll just drink the whole pack alone one day. Also, I don't mean to be rude, because I love you guys, but can you have a video you reference explaining your scoring system and not have to recap it every time? I feel like it breaks the flow of your review to keep explaining it.
We've experimented with that in the past (a recap scoring video) and we've found that nobody goes to watch it, and instead just asks about it in the comments, so we try to preemptively head that off and summarize it as briefly as possible in each video. We agree with you about disrupting the flow and we've definitely tightened up the delivery of that scoring system in recent filmings. We hope it'll be a lot more concise in our videos going forward. Cheers and thanks for the constructive feedback Bo!
That's a bummer, but the positive is that they're coming. When they do, definitely check out the single barrel barrel proofs and any annual releases they do. It's wild how mature their whiskey is for the age.
First, the best part of this episode is the last 60secs. Second, hats off to J&E. They don't use vulgar words in the videos. Vulgarity takes value away from the content. I like that I can watch an episode on the big screen and don't have to worry when the kids are walking around the house. Big thank you!
Thanks Nathan! We appreciate you noticing that. You're on our wavelength. Cheers buddy!
Been preaching the New Riff rye for a while now. To me, it's a hidden gem that punches way above its price, competing quite well with other darlings of the rye world that cost four times its price. Another really unique rye I've been telling people about is FEW Rye out of Evanston, Illinois. It's a fantastic rye with a very unique and pleasant flavor profile (just make sure you get their Straight Rye and not their Immortal Rye that incorporates Oolong tea - it's good, too, but it changes the flavor profile significantly). FEW also makes some great bourbons and whiskeys. In my market, they're readily available and very reasonably priced (the last time I bought one, their Straight Rye was $40).
We've heard about FEW from friends in the Chicago area and definitely need to get our hands on a bottle. We think you're spot on with the 4x metric on New Riff as well. It's crazy how good their stuff is for the age and money. Cheers and thanks for watching man!
What introduced to New Riff by a bartender at a high school reunion this summer..... now it is a favorite to share with good friends.
Cheers to that William!
I like both bottle. The New Riff Balboa Rye is exceptional.
Good review, thanks for posting it. I haven’t had the opportunity to try either of these, but Pikesville is on my list to get. Looking forward to your reviews in 2022!
Grab both! Love them for different reasons..and makes me appreciate Rye even more as an already Rye fan!🥃
We co-sign what Bobbo posted. Definitely both worth picking up. Cheers and thanks for watching!
Just returned from vacation and one of my purchases was a bottle of the New Riff BP Rye. Quite a unique a pleasant pour and I'm glad I bought it.
Thank you Josh for finding that Root Beer note in New Riff, thought I was going crazy. Michter's Rye also has in my opinion that root beer note as well. Thank you for for being candid!
Thanks for watching Thomas! Cheers!
New Riff Balboa Rye is AWESOME. Try that one
Both of these are always in my liquor cabinet. But I got to say, WT Rare Breed Rye is better for slightly less money. So if I could only buy one it would be Rare Breed but I can buy as many as I want and I love variety so I'm buying them all.
Variety is the spice of life, right? We have Rare Breed Rye in our blind head-to-head pool against both of these and can't wait for those matchups to pop up!
Back when I first became bourbonated, I imprinted on Pikesville without even knowing rye was a thing. I just thought it was lyrics from "American Pie." A friend said, "here try this." It was Pikesville and I took to it. My nose understood the sweetness and my tongue interpreted the spice as a tiny hint of anise. It was also the highest proof my Average Joe Sixpack mouth had ever tasted. Then my friend said, "if you think that's great, you should try Old Overholt." That was interesting, sort of, and I spent a bit of time being tossed about by the fickle winds of rye. Then, a few months ago, I had my first taste of New Riff 6-Year Malted Rye (slightly different profile from NR's BP rye but similar DNA). "Well golly, says I. The known horizon just got bigger." Your blind comparison is a year old, but it touches on my bourbon origin story, and brought back warm memories, so I had to chime in. Thank you. Long may you run.
Today's (2/10/22) drop brought me back to compare the two New Riff takes...as much as I dig their bourbon, gotta get a bottle, but not quite enuf to ship, I'll snag one in the spring. I have gotten a Pikesville (and, well, Sazerac) in the interim month...I like your lemon and honey take.
Pikesville is one of my favorite. Have not found New Riff in the area. Great review.
Pikesville is a beloved pour for good reason. Great stuff for sure. Cheers and thanks for watching John!
Thanks for the fun videos, you two! What would you say is your favorite rye of all time? (If I only want to buy 1 bottle.) :)
Jack Daniel's Barrel Proof Rye for sure. Specially the 2020 Special Release, but the new single barrels are great as well. Jack Daniel's does rye really well in our book.
I can day the standard single barrel cask strength new riff is already a high rye bourbon. To me it is the best of both worlds sweet corn and spice of rye on back is everything I want in a good bourbon.
"Everything I want in a good bourbon" is maybe the single best description we've heard of New Riff Barrel Proof. Well said, Thomas. Cheers and thanks for watching!
I know this was a year ago, and I am a new subscriber, wish I was sooner to your channel. Love your blind tasting, love the thought process behind the scoring, and really appreciate the content. You two are fun, honest and have real tasting talent. Keep it up!
Thanks so much for the kind words Mark! Glad you found us!
New riff I s the best choice as it is £20 cheaper than Pikesville rye. I don't like sweet ryes and much prefer spicy and proper ryes.
Availability is a fickle thing, in New England pikesville is kinda allocated, often marked up, and not the most easy to find during certain times of the year
For sure. We've forgotten to say it but our scoring rubric is designed to meet people wherever they are in their own tastes and opinions and locations, and if you were to use it, you'd likely get a different score than we do. Great comment Michael and a good reminder for us to be sure to mention that. Cheers and thanks for watching!
Your completing a barely legal rye 51% Pikesville against a 95% rye New Riff. Is that apples and oranges? Regardless, I prefer the Pikesville for better mouthfill and flavor. 6 year old and 110 proof. My go to rye.
We've found that apples and oranges don't really apply when tasting totally blind. When you know what you're looking for, knowing the mashbills can influence a single blind tasting, but when you're double blind it's all fair game (example: a high rye bourbon vs a wheated bourbon, which most people couldn't pick out in a double blind format, is one a lot of folks love to say is apples to oranges). Said differently, mashbills are just recipes and they don't matter nearly as much as the actual flavor profile of the pour in the glass. Great question though. We were in the “apples to oranges” camp before doing so many blind tastings ourselves.
@@stuffandwhiskey Youu two are correct! I'm sorry to say I missed the first few minutes of this episode due to grand kid interventions so kinda missed the double blind intro. I get it now lol! That's for the great video!
were yall looking in my windows?? My new riff single barrel rye and bourbon arrived today and i always have some pikesville on hand. I guess i know my blind tonight.
Haha! Let us know how it goes. Hopefully you got a great New Riff single barrel. Cheers and thanks for watching Tim!
Wow I was always a Pikesville guy but the new riff brings back memories of mom making fresh bread on the nose. The taste is amazingly fruity/sweet to me. A definite rebuy I hope the bourbon is as good.
@@swopeti in our experience, it has been. Glad you’re enjoying the rye!
Riff is better!? No no no. Definitely Pikesville all the way. I’ve had the chance to taste 2 different Riff’s at a tasting and I wasnt impressed. And I have over 100 bottles here at my bar. Maybe I should start my channel again 🤦🏻♂️
Start it up! We're all about more content to appeal to the various palates out there. One thing we have noticed is that the New Riff store/group picks can vary wildly, but the standard release single barrel barrel proof offerings seem to be much more consistent. That said, it's still single barrel roulette and Pikesville is certainly going to offer a much more consistent experience.
@@stuffandwhiskey it might have been a store pick if I can remember because that was the first time seeing it around. 👌🏼
Pikesville is my pick over all the more expensive ryes I've tried.
@@DBTdad definitely agree!
Man i love pikesville
It's a solid pour for sure, and you can't beat the distribution and consistency of Heaven Hill.
Do you file the score sheets or scan and save???
We keep a spreadsheet with some weighted averages for products that have been in multiple tastings (like Pikesville for example) that's accessible over on our Patreon page in the Whiskey Nerd tier. Thanks so much for watching Rob! Cheers!
Cheers!
I've really come to enjoy Ryes a lot this year, but I still haven't seen any New Riff here. I also have a Heaven Hill sample pack with Pikesville in it, but I haven't cracked it open yet. I need to find someone who will sample the whole pack with me... or maybe I'll just drink the whole pack alone one day.
Also, I don't mean to be rude, because I love you guys, but can you have a video you reference explaining your scoring system and not have to recap it every time? I feel like it breaks the flow of your review to keep explaining it.
We've experimented with that in the past (a recap scoring video) and we've found that nobody goes to watch it, and instead just asks about it in the comments, so we try to preemptively head that off and summarize it as briefly as possible in each video. We agree with you about disrupting the flow and we've definitely tightened up the delivery of that scoring system in recent filmings. We hope it'll be a lot more concise in our videos going forward. Cheers and thanks for the constructive feedback Bo!
WHISKEY CHEERS 😎😎😎😎
Cheers Mr. Wentworth!
I agree with the pikesville. It's good but l but Rittenhouse is similar at a slightly lower proof but at half the price.
New Riff told me that they will not be distributing in my area for at least another year. :(
That's a bummer, but the positive is that they're coming. When they do, definitely check out the single barrel barrel proofs and any annual releases they do. It's wild how mature their whiskey is for the age.