Review #821 - New Riff 6 Year Malted Rye Sherry Finish (2025)

This is the third iteration of New Riff's sherry-finished malted rye whisky; the first two editions arrived in 2022 and 2024. This series quickly became one of our favorites from the distillery, and we think highly of New Riff in general; because of that, we made sure to get down to the distillery last year to pick up this bottle.

Like the previous releases, this takes the distillery's widely-found 6 year malted rye whisky and finishes it in sherry casks, specifically a combination of Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. Because of the history of malted grains and their combination with sherry aging, New Riff expects this combination to work well, even though it uses rye instead of barley.

Because the distillery bottles this rye at barrel proof instead of their traditional 50% ABV (100 proof), they can no longer use the bottled-in-bond designation; despite that, we still know that this is not chill filtered, a great quality marker.

New Riff 6 Year Malted Rye Sherry Finish (2025)

USA - Rye

Price: USD 70 (2025)

Age Statement: 6 Years

Strength: 55.95% ABV

Cask Makeup: Finished in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks

Details: Not chill filtered, bottled 2025

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 3 months; bottles at 100%, 90%, and 80% (blind tasting) fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Rich and sweet to start: syrupy red fruits like bright cherry and seedy raspberry jam, followed by powdered sugar and cotton candy. Warm savory grain notes combine with some leathery oak; we also get a whiff of wood smoke, brown sugar, and a touch of menthol. It's earthy and a little dirty, but leans sweet overall.

Palate: Juicy, syrupy red fruit: strawberry, raspberry, then lots of raisin and prunes. Soft spices like pepper and leathery oak tannins add a kick, and we get some dark chocolate and blackberry sauce as well. The complexion is quite dark; bitter coffee beans are an accent, but it's quite rich overall. The mouthfeel is medium-thick.

Finish: Cherries, wood char, vanilla, musty earth - a fun combination of sweet and dry flavors. Oranges, cranberry sauce, and plum continue the strong fruit theme, but we also find minty rye, graham crackers, sage, and leather. It's a long finish.

Final Note: Like the last two releases of this whisky, this is a great rye, one with an unusual profile that packs lots of interesting fruit and baking spice notes. This was especially jammy with loads of red fruit influence like strawberry and cranberry, but we like that musty earth character that hides in the background, hinting at that mellow rye influence. This is packed with flavor, and it provides something new each time you taste it - very good whisky.

Value is great since New Riff continues their fair pricing scheme, even on their more limited releases. We think that this packs more flavor than just about any other rye you can find for under $75, and we highly suggest picking one up if you like finished ryes.

Our Rating: 7.8 / 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: 7.52

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.