Bright oak | Orange zest | Punchy rye pop | Slight earthy undertone

Stone fruit | Orange rind | Toffee | Rich rye spice | Hint of raisin | Chewy mouthfeel

Wave of spice | Baking Spices | Allspice | Rye spice | Clove | Long

New Riff Balboa Rye is back with a new 2023 limited release. Like New Riff Distilling’s standard rye whiskey, this release is Bottled in Bond and non-chill filtered. However, compared to their standard rye release, for the mashbill they’ve swapped the standard rye grain with Balboa rye. Balboa rye is an heirloom grain that dates back to the 1940s, though it hasn’t been distilled in decades. The Fogg Family Farm in Indiana now grows it exclusively for New Riff Distilling

I profiled the first Balboa Rye release back in 2019, and found it to have an “explosion of fruit and sweet notes, with just the right amount of spice in the mix.” This latest edition hits those same high points as the first release, and like the first offers a balanced mix of sweet and spicy with fruit notes leading the charge. At 95% rye, it’s much different than the flavor profile that’s typically found with a popular neighboring distillery, MGP, which tends to be a sharper, spicier flavor profile that often has a telltale dill note. Instead, there is an earthy undertone and well developed range of flavors that reach a height typically not seen at only 4 years old.