Review #548 - New Riff Backsetter Rye

Written By Me, My Wife & Whisky

The sister whisky to New Riff's Backsetter Bourbon - this is their Backsetter Rye, a Kentucky Straight Rye that uses an unusual technique during the mashing process. While it's common for American distilleries to use backset from previous fermentations to control the acidity balance in later whisky mashes (the sour mash process), they don't typically use peated liquid from the production of a different type of whisky - that's the case here.

Instead of adding backset from a previous rye mash to this batch of rye whisky, they added single malt backset; in fact, it's smoky backset, as the single malt being produced was a peated barley variety. Other than this difference, however, this rye whisky was produced in New Riff's normal style: a mashbill of 95% rye and 5% malted rye, 4 years of aging in new American white oak barrels, and bottling at 50% ABV (100 proof) for the bottled-in-bond designation.

New Riff Backsetter Rye

USA - Rye

Price: USD 85 (2025, based on recent auction results)

Age Statement: 4 Years

Strength: 50% ABV

Details: Not chill filtered; bottled 2020

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle 50% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a nosing glass, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Smoky, charred - lots of barrel char. Quite interesting, with a combination of orange seeds, some rye grain, and a bit of a sour note. Wood smoke continues to intensify, but there's a subtle sweetness in the background.

Palate: Medium-thick, and more sweet now: lemon-lime soda especially. The peat smoke is presenting more like wood smoke, even mesquite wood smoke; that smokiness is quite strong.

Finish: Lemonade, mint, quite fizzy and bright. Wood smoke, oak, and mild peat still linger in the aftertaste, and it's a medium-long finish.

Final Note: The smoke level in this rye was stronger than in the bourbon counterpart - lots of wood smoke, especially. Behind that, we found interesting citrus and mint notes, hinting at that rye grain; this one felt a bit wood-dominated, though. Good whisky, but a unique flavor profile that might not agree with everyone's palate.

Value is okay - this is still available at auction for prices well under $100 despite the fact that it's an old limited release.

Our Average Rating: 7.5 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.82

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.

Me, My Wife & Whisky
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Review #547 - New Riff Backsetter Bourbon