Smoked wood | Dark cherry | Raspberry | Unusual combination of scents

Smoky upfront | Dark fruit | Charred oak | Toasted marshmallow | Cocoa | Baking spices

Baking spices | Rye spice | Cherry | Raw sugar | Smoky undertone | Lingering spice 

According to the company’s press release, New Riff Distilling 2023 Single Cask #10 is one of eight bottles in Lost Lantern’s “Summer of Bourbon” release collection. It is one of six single barrels that is released alongside two very small blends. The release is a total of 214 bottles. 

Lost Lantern’s mission is “shining light on the independent spirit,” which translates to independent bottlings featuring craft distilleries. This is the first time New Riff Distilling has been included in one of Lost Lantern’s bottlings. Like some of Lost Lantern’s other releases, New Riff Distilling is a large and fairly well known craft distillery. Regardless, Lost Lantern exercises a great deal of care selecting the barrels that ultimately get bottled under their label, often reaching for unique barrels that highlight something interesting about the particular distillery in focus. 

This particular barrel is exactly that. While New Riff Distilling is known for its range of single barrel offerings, this particular barrel takes it a step further. Most notable is its smoky flavor found throughout, which ranges from a smoked wood aroma to a smoky flavor on the palate, and finally a smoky undertone that remains present in the finish. The smoke notes are complemented by dark cherries, charred oak, toasted marshmallow, cocoa, rye spice, and raw sugar, though the vein of smoke remains steady throughout. It’s quite a deviation from a typical bourbon flavor profile, and will prove to be a love it or hate it aspect of this particular barrel. If a smoky undertone is your jam, don’t sleep on this barrel. If not, steer clear.