Known for their bourbons and ryes, New Riff Distilling’s Sour Mash Single Malt is a new ongoing annual release for the Newport, Kentucky, company that is part of their Malt Whiskey Project. The 2025 release marks the third iteration of this annual Single Malt, and contains some of the distillery’s oldest malt whiskeys that are aged up to 10 years. This year’s blend features three mashbills ranging in age from 7 to 10 years old, which were finished in six different casks. The finishing casks used for this release were: new charred oak, de-charred toasted oak, de-charred and re-charred oak, Madeira casks, Oloroso Sherry casks, and red wine (French oak, Taransaud cooperage) casks. The company states that “The final blend was re-barreled into used oak for an extended maturation period, a process the Northern Kentucky distillery implemented for the first time with this Single Malt release."

‍‍Each release also features a lot code. The first two digits in the lot code designate what year the whiskey was bottled in. The second set of digits represents the number of mashbills used in the blend. The third set of digits denotes the number of malted barley used in the mashbill. The last set of digits represents the number of cask types employed.

‍‍The bottle in review comes from the Fall 2023 Vatting with lot number 25.03.06.06.

The aroma that greets you lets you instantly know you’re in for an interesting experience. Subtle campfire smoke rests on top of oak, with vegetative funk weaving in between. Inhaling deeply pulls out berry compote, baking spices, and chocolate-covered cherry pie. Scents of syrup-soaked raisins, brown sugar, and mixed citrus rinds round things out. It’s a fantastic aromatic experience that will have you lingering for a while before actually tasting the whisk

The midpoint continues the trend of bombarding your senses with an explosion of flavors. It starts with dark fruits colliding against aged oak. Light cooking sherry and mushrooms rear their heads, which have you do a double-take, before quickly revealing chewy malt and a hint of dark cacao nibs. A blend of faint mixed nuts and roasted coffee beans rounds things out. It’s both a head-scratcher of a midpoint and one of the more complex palates you’ll experience in a single malt. There’s no denying, however, that these flavors work well together and utilize all of the various barrel finishes.

The flavors found in the palate change course, and you’re greeted with aged dry oak and cigar ash to kick things off in the finish. Dry mixed nuts and chewy malt mix with green peppercorn spice. The spice pushes forward and is joined by a smoldering campfire smoke that lingers for an incredibly long time. It carries with it the interesting theme that was displayed in the rest of the sip, however the focus on its smoke aspects also causes it to come across as the most one-dimensional part of the sip.

When New Riff first released their Sour Mash Single Malt in 2023, it stood out as one of the more unique single malt whiskeys in the market. With the company using the same mashbills in 2024 and adding a Madeira cask-aged malt whiskey, it seemed like this may be the direction each iteration would go: Hold the mashbill the same but tweak a finishing barrel. However, this year’s release shows that New Riff is allowing itself greater flexibility than initially thought with this series.

Utilizing only three of the six mashbills instead of the five used previously, it delivers a new drinking experience. New Riff seems to go out of their way to make their single malt not taste like a typical American single malt from other producers. Utilizing a seemingly new combination of finishing barrels, including a rarely seen de-charred and re-charred oak barrel, certainly also contributed to its flavor profile. As a result, this year’s release stands apart from other iterations in this series.

Additionally, the fact that this contains some of the earliest whiskey distilled at New Riff shouldn’t go unnoticed. The distillery started in 2014, and seeing as this uses 10 year old whiskey in its blend, means that this is some of the first whiskey that New Riff ever distilled. Taken all together you have one of the more unique whiskeys, both on paper and in taste, that New Riff has ever released. Expanding further it’s one of the more unique American whiskeys as a whole, as it pushes into completely unfamiliar flavor territory.

When this series was first released in 2023, it cost $70. Fast-forward 2 years, and New Riff has held the line, as it still costs $70. While in years past this wouldn’t have been anything to get excited about, in the crazy modern times of whiskey pricing, this is pleasantly surprising. Not only has the company held price, but compared to other American single malts in the marketplace, let alone other annual releases, this is a really good deal.

The same can’t be said for other limited edition American single malts. When Westward Whiskey launched their limited edition annual Milestone release in 2024, it cost $250, and their 2025 release was priced the same. Westland’s annual Garryana is priced similarly higher at $150. In just a few years, New Riff’s good price point turned into a fantastic one thanks to the market continuing to skyrocket for annual releases. Priced at a very reasonable $70 in 2025, New Riff Sour Mash Single Malt delivers at one of the lowest prices for an annual release American single malt, period.

This year’s iteration of New Riff Sour Mash Single Malt can best be described as a whiskey drinker’s whiskey. It’s a challenging sip through and through, that forces you to really sit and dissect each of the scents and flavor notes from start to finish. This by no means is a negative statement. Instead, it’s more of a testament to what New Riff delivered this year. Between the various mashbills and the amount and types of barrel finishes used, on paper, this should come out as a jumbled mess. In reality, it’s one of the most intriguing single malts that has been delivered to the market so far this year.

This whiskey certainly won’t be for everyone. Those looking for a more traditional American single malt need to turn elsewhere, as the 2025 New Riff Sour Mash Single Malt certainly is not that. However, for those who are well into their American single malt journey, or just those whiskey drinkers who like a challenge, the 2025 New Riff Sour Mash Single Malt delivers in spades. This series is quickly turning into one of the most interesting annual single malt releases, and I walk away from this year’s release already excited to see what New Riff continues to deliver in future years.