Liquid Riot Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating C+

Liquid Riot Bourbon
(Credit: Liquid Riot)

Most distilleries have a bar attached these days. Brewstilleries are a small, but growing part of the American craft whiskey scene. Only a few have a restaurant attached. Portland’s Liquid Riot makes spirits and beer, sells them over the bar and serves food, all under the same roof. I can count the number of folks doing that in the United States on one hand.

Liquid Riot is run by two brothers, Eric and Ian Michaud, with Ian running the whiskey side of things. The labeling pays a nod both to Portland, Maine (“Old Port”) and to the city’s distilled spirits history. Maine passed a Prohibition law in 1851, and some years later a rumor got around that Portland’s mayor, Neal “The Napoleon of Temperance” Dow, was sitting atop a large stash of alcohol. Those discontented with Prohibition turned another law Dow had sponsored against him, procuring a citizen’s search warrant for the liquor in June 1855.

There actually was a stockpile of “medicinal spirits” in City Hall, which is where a crowd gathered, reportedly growing to some 3,000 by that evening. The crowd became unruly, Dow called out the militia, and the militia fired on the crowd. Thus went the Portland Rum Riot of 1855.

Liquid Riot’s bourbon is made from an unorthodox mash bill, using the traditional corn and rye, but relying on buckwheat in place of malted barley. It’s bottled at 90 proof.

The Bourbon
The whiskey has a light copper coloring in the glass, and a swish and coat released a scattered sheet of tears. The nose is sweet with red fruits and molasses, with a note of hot cinnamon to spice it up.

The flavor leans into the spicy side, however, with cinnamon and ginger in the main. A note of toasty wood imprints a dry character to it as well, but not in the tannic or overtly oaky way. The sweetness has faded down to a glazing of non-descript sugar. The finish runs light, short and dry.

The Price
A 750ml bottle of Liquid Riot Bourbon costs $40.