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When it first hit the whiskey scene, Kentucky’s New Riff Distillery promised a “new riff” on tried-and-true Kentucky whiskey-making custom. And boy have they began delivering lately. On the heels of their 100% malted rye launch earlier this 12 months, the whiskey tinkerers from Newport are including one other innovation to their lineup with Purple Turkey Wheated Bourbon. I’ll let co-founder Jay Erisman clarify what the heck which means.
“Identical to heirloom tomatoes, heirloom grains provide flavors and aromas which might be distinct from — and infrequently merely higher than — trendy hybridized grain varieties,” stated co-founder Jay Erisman. “We get pleasure from serving to to protect these outdated grains, however the true purpose we do it’s for the flavour within the glass. We questioned what wheated bourbon would’ve tasted like 100 years in the past, earlier than trendy agriculture bred a lot taste out of wheat in change for ever-increasing yields and ease of transport and storage.”
Erisman stated Purple Turkey has extra protein and fewer starch than trendy wheats, lowering yield however providing a far wider and richer depth of flavors. “To our data, that is the one Kentucky bitter mash wheated bourbon produced in trendy occasions from Purple Turkey Wheat,” he stated. “Wheated bourbon could be very widespread nowadays, however with few exceptions all of it makes use of trendy hybrid wheat varieties.”
To supply this uncommon ingredient, New Riff turned to Blue Oven Bakery, a neighborhood artisan bread-maker keen on utilizing heirloom grains. The ultimate recipe for the whiskey included 25% Purple Turkey Wheat from Ohio, together with New Riff’s normal provide of non-GMO corn (70%) and malted barley (5%). It’s bottled-in-bond, aged not less than 5 years. This isn’t New Riff’s first foray into heirloom grains. We sampled, however sadly didn’t get to assessment, their Balboa Rye launch from 2020 which was a very scrumptious illustration of the uncommon taste that comes from distinctive grains. Let’s see how Purple Turkey Wheat stacks up!
The nostril is gritty and savory with yeasty rolls and crusty bread. It’s all tied collectively effectively with a doughy sweetness and refined notes of dried orange peel and caramel apple. On the palate, that very same steadiness between candy and savory is on show with an preliminary rush of buttery caramel sauce. Beneath that’s various orchard fruit, principally apples however some pear and cherry even, particularly as issues open up. These dry grain notes hold little bit of spice within the combine effectively into the end which lingers with extra fruit and a wealthy brown sugar sweetness, like chilly apple pie. Nice stuff. Because of New Riff, and some others, I feel I’m actually beginning to purchase into this complete heirloom grain factor.
100 proof.
A- / $50 / newriffdistilling.com
New Riff Purple Turkey Wheated Bourbon
$50
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