Review #638 - New Riff High Note First Decade Rye

The companion bottle to New Riff's First Decade Bourbon, which was released in the Spring of 2025 for the distillery's whisky club - this is the First Decade Rye. This is the oldest rye whisky the distillery has produced and released, carrying an age statement of 10 years (the distillery opened just 11 years ago at the time of writing). This rye was distilled less than a year after New Riff opened and began production.

This rye comes as a part of the distillery's High Note series, which is a set of limited releases that are often experimental. This rye doesn't use a unique grain or unusual mashbill, though; instead, this was made with New Riff's typical rye mashbill of 95% rye and 5% malted rye, a recipe heavily influenced by MGP's famous ryes.

After 10 years of aging, this was bottled at a strength of 60.25% ABV (120.5 proof), and New Riff guarantees on the label that it hasn't been chill filtered.

New Riff High Note First Decade Rye

USA - Rye

Price: USD 90 (2025)

Age Statement: 10 Years

Strength: 60.25% ABV

Details: Not chill filtered, bottled 2025

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

Nose: Vanilla and oak, as well as a nice spice element - pepper, only subtle hints of rye. The oak brings an antique wood note, and it's quite rich; orange fruit and some dark cherry come next. There's a nice sweetness overall - cake icing, too.

Palate: The mouthfeel is thick; lots of baking notes, starting with brown sugar and some soft pepper spice. There's subtle spearmint and a bit of barbecued oak; almond and candied pecan come next, followed by bruleed sugar and cinnamon. Good texture and nice flavor density.

Finish: Oak and tannins build, and we get soft leather and dry vanilla from the oak. There's a hint of dill and mint toothpaste, as well as some light notes like cotton and floral flavors. It's a medium-long finish.

Final Note: Excellent rye - this has aged very well. Some of that rye character has grown more subtle over time, and the oak is much stronger than other New Riff ryes; there's also more sweetness developing with time, which we enjoyed. The high strength gives this good texture, and the density of flavors is very good; baking spices and sugars ended up being the dominant profile overall.

Value here is fantastic if you were able to pick this up from the whisky club release; it's now sold out, and secondary prices are higher. These club releases from New Riff always present good value, though, and we would have no problem recommending that you buy them blind when they are released - for us, they always deliver.

Our Average Rating: 8.8 / 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: 7.85

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.