New Riff Backsetter Peated Backset Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Even before people were buzzing about “craft whiskey,” innovation was a signature characteristic of small and medium-sized American distillers. Old Potrero, for example, was doing 100% malted rye whiskey in the 1990s, when no one was doing that and there were only a few small whiskey distillers (and no brewstillers; Potrero was an outgrowth of Anchor Steam Brewing) to boot.

A quarter of a century later, one might wonder what territory remains to be discovered and explored, and the answer is a constant source of surprise. New Riff, a mid-sized distillery in Northern Kentucky, has launched a new series called “Backsetters” which explores the potential of the sour mash method.

As any self-respecting bourbon geek knows, sour mash involves taking taking a small portion of the previous mash for incorporation into the next batch as a quality control measure. It was cutting edge science in the mid-19th Century, when yeast and acidity were poorly understood and germ theory not at all. However, backsets invariably go from one mash to a successive duplicate mash. The idea of incorporating a backset from an entirely different mash into a new batch, which is at the heart of Backsetters, is novel indeed.

The title “New Riff Backsetter Peated Backset Bourbon” is a mouthful, but it says almost everything. New Riff took backset from a whiskey mash of peated malted barley and rye and put it into an otherwise normal mash of their bourbon. Backset plays an important role in a mash’s chemical and biological processes, but the smokiness of a Scotch is usually directly tied to its PPM level (phenolic parts per million), which is achieved by the degree of smoking used to dry the malt. The phenols transferred by mere backset should have been small, but they had an outsized impact on this whiskey.

The Bourbon
As mentioned earlier, the actual mash of this bourbon is the standard New Riff high rye recipe: 60% corn, 35% rye and 5% malted barley. It’s also bonded, and I think a good way to get a firm grasp on just what the peaty backset did to the whiskey would be to try Backsetter side by side with the normal New Riff Bonded.

The look straddles the line between copper and light amber, lacking that touch of dark red necessary to get fully across. The pour has a quite aromatic scent, of the not-distanced type that rises up out of the glass to greet you from a few feet away. It’s a fruity scent, full of citrus and cherries, but with a current of earthy cocoa running through. That body is rounded out with notes of dry straw and vanilla.

The flavor is full of caramel and rye spiciness, and it is here where the backset first makes its presence known, bringing up an ashy tinge to the backside. That barrel rolls hard into the finish, which turns full Highland smoky and lingers that way for a spell.

I’ve had more smoked American whiskeys than I can count; the best were flavorful, but lacked the subtlety and balance that so many peated single malts possess (those that aren’t ballsy peat bombs at any rate). New Riff has managed to pull that off here. The smoke present in the whiskey rises up pleasantly through the drinking experience, from zero to dominance by the end, remaining distinct from the traditional flavor of “barrel char” and while staying firmly rooted bourbon territory. It went a long way on backset alone, and frankly I think it is a must-buy for any serious enthusiast despite my B+ grade.

The Price
New Riff Backsetter Peated Backset Bourbon is an affordable $50.