Review #664 - New Riff 6 Year Malted Rye Sherry Finish (2024)

New Riff's sherry-finished version of their 6 year old malted rye whisky returned in 2024 after a 2 year hiatus. Like the original batch, which arrived in 2022, this takes New Riff's standard 6 year 100% malted rye and finishes it in 2 types of sherry casks: Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez.

New Riff actually gives us some very specific information about that sherry finish: 20% of the batch was finished for a period of 12 months and 3 days, while the other 80% of the batch had an extended finish of 15 months and 9 days. After that maturation, the distillery bottles this rye at barrel proof, which is 55.75% ABV (111.5 proof) for the 2024 release.

New Riff 6 Year Malted Rye Sherry Finish (2024)

USA - Rye

Price: USD 70 (2024)

Age Statement: 6 Years

Strength: 55.75% ABV

Cask Makeup: Finished in Oloroso and PX sherry casks

Details: Not chill filtered, bottled 2024

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 7 months; bottles at 50% and 50% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Quite sweet, with caramel, vanilla, strawberry, and raisins up front. More fruit like blood orange and prune arrive, and there's a darker side, too: Dr. Pepper Cherry soda, sweet balsamic glaze, and a bit of chocolate. There's a soft creamy note like creme brulee, a hint of maltiness, and floral perfume, too.

Palate: The mouthfeel is medium-thick; it's warm and a bit spicy to start, with cinnamon and wood spice, a bit of cola too. Fruits return in the form of sweet and sour orange, strawberry, lots of raisin, stewed fruits. Molasses adds more dark sweetness in the background.

Finish: Soft fruits of orange and dry raisin; a bit of leather and some tannins from the oak; sassafras and dark chocolate, too. There's a fizzy sensation that lingers, and it's quite an oily spirit; the finish is medium-long.

Final Note: Like the original release, this iteration of New Riff's Malted Rye Sherry Finish is delicious. It is definitely a cask-forward experience without much of that actual rye character intact; the sherry notes are powerful, adding lots of red and purple fruits, dark sugary sweet flavors, and wood spice. Texture is great at this strength, and because this rye isn't chill filtered, all of that oily spirit is left intact, which means the finish lingers for a long time.

Value here is excellent due to the reasonable price from the distillery. For the most part, they're still maintaining their fair pricing, and that extends to limited releases like this bottle. If you can still find this, it's a great pickup.

Our Average Rating: 8.3 / 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: 8.01

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.

Check out our other New Riff reviews:

Review #653 - New Riff Red Turkey Wheat (2025)

Review #650 - New Riff Headliner 2025 Release

Review #638 - New Riff High Note First Decade Rye

Review #635 - New Riff High Note First Decade Bourbon

Review #633 - New Riff Single Barrel Bourbon - Total Wine Pick

Review #595 - New Riff 6 Year Aroostook Malted Rye

Review #581 - New Riff High Note Kentucky Straight Rye Made With Biscuit Malt

Review #548 - New Riff Backsetter Rye

Review #547 - New Riff Backsetter Bourbon

Review #537 - New Riff Headliner (2024)

Review #499 - Ol' New Riff 6 Year Rye