Cedar Ridge Drops Nine and Three Quarters Rye: Iowa's Most Ambitious Whiskey Yet
There is a particular kind of confidence required to name a whiskey something as deliberately curious as Nine and Three Quarters. It is not a proof statement. It is not a barrel count or an age declaration. It is an act of creative audacity — the kind that signals a distillery has moved well beyond simply making good spirit and is now in the business of telling a story. Cedar Ridge Distillery, under the direction of Master Blender Murphy Quint, has released Nine and Three Quarters Rye, the latest expression to emerge from one of the most quietly accomplished craft distilleries operating in the American Midwest today. For enthusiasts who have tracked Cedar Ridge's steady ascent over the past two decades, this release lands as both a validation of the distillery's commitment to rye and a bold declaration that eastern Iowa is no longer flying under the radar.
The House That Quint Built: Cedar Ridge in Context
To understand why Nine and Three Quarters Rye matters, you need to understand where it comes from — not just geographically, but culturally and philosophically. In 2005, Jeff Quint founded Cedar Ridge because he believed it was time for Iowa — the number one corn-producing state in the U.S. — to share its homegrown bourbon whiskey with the world. That founding vision sounds straightforward enough, but the execution required something closer to a crusade. Prohibition left Iowa without a licensed distillery until 2005 when one was opened by Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery. That gap — more than seven decades without legal distillation in one of America's most grain-rich states — makes Cedar Ridge's founding all the more significant.
Since 1881, the Quint family has tilled the lands, coaxing from the earth a bounty of corn so abundant that its journey reaches pantries across the nation. Winthrop, Iowa is where this journey took root. The distillery itself sits in Swisher, a small community with a population of 907, where the Quint family founded Cedar Ridge Distillery in 2005. Three generations of the family operate across their farm, winery, and distillery — a setup that is increasingly rare in an industry where corporate consolidation has become the dominant narrative.
After releasing its first batch of whiskey in 2010, Cedar Ridge Distillery quickly became a nationally recognized leader in craft spirits, winning multiple awards such as American Distilling Institute's "2017 Distiller of the Year" and "Best American Craft Whiskey" at the 2016 New York World Spirits Competition. Those accolades were not anomalies. Cedar Ridge has gained national attention with their spirits, winning multiple awards including Double Gold at San Francisco World Spirits Competition and "Best American Single Malt" by World Whiskies Awards, Barleycorn Awards, and the ASCOT Awards.
Then came the moment that rewrote the playbook for craft distillers everywhere. In 2020, Cedar Ridge accomplished what no distillery outside of Kentucky ever had: they became the best-selling bourbon in their state. Cedar Ridge surpassed mass-produced Maker's Mark and Jim Beam as top seller, and became the first craft distiller in the country to produce the number one selling bourbon in any state. That achievement was not marketing hyperbole — it was a market-share milestone that sent shockwaves through the distilling industry and validated everything Jeff Quint had bet on two decades earlier.
Murphy Quint and the Making of a Master Blender
Behind every great whiskey release is a person who actually made the decisions — the blend ratios, the barrel selections, the proof point, the timing. At Cedar Ridge, that person is Murphy Quint, and his path to the role of Master Blender is as instructive as any formal distillation curriculum.
Every Friday, Murphy called Stranahan's, asking for a job. Every Friday, the answer was no — until finally, it wasn't. He was brought in for an interview, and soon after, joined the production team under Rob Dietrich, then Head Distiller. What he absorbed during that stint in Colorado went beyond production mechanics. As Murphy himself has said, "It's what I saw that really changed how I view this whole industry. The people I worked with — how into this whiskey game they were — how much they loved it. They lived, breathed, and ate it." He also saw firsthand the kind of devoted following that a great whiskey could build, watching as fans camped out in subzero temperatures for a chance to buy a bottle of Stranahan's Snowflake.
By 2014, Murphy made the decision to return to Iowa. Cedar Ridge was already making whiskey, but Murphy was pushing for more. What he brought back with him was a hunger for craft that had been sharpened against the whetstone of one of Colorado's finest distilleries. As Murphy has described it, "Every year we evolve and change so much." That evolution is precisely what Nine and Three Quarters Rye represents — a distillery that has mastered its core lineup and is now reaching further.
In 2024, the organizational structure at Cedar Ridge reflected a maturing operation. That year saw Jamie Siefken ascending to President and General Manager. Murphy Quint stepped into the role of Master Distiller while continuing to steer operations. Andy Klimesh assumed the mantle of Chief Financial Officer. And Jeff Quint remained founder, CEO, and steward of Cedar Ridge's singular spirit. Murphy's expanded title — which now includes Master Blender alongside his operational responsibilities — signals just how central his sensibility is to releases like Nine and Three Quarters.
Iowa as a Terroir: Why Place Matters More Than You Think
The American whiskey conversation has long been dominated by Kentucky geography — the limestone-filtered water, the rolling Bluegrass hills, the warehouses that date back generations. Iowa has never had that kind of built-in mythology. What it does have is something that quietly produces remarkable results: extreme, unpredictable weather and some of the most fertile grain-growing soil on earth.
Allowing nature to be the ultimate guide in aging, Cedar Ridge transfers whiskey to barrels and stores them in non-temperature-controlled rick houses. Iowa's consistently inconsistent weather aids in the expansion and contraction of the barrels, allowing the whiskey to take on rich aromas and flavors more quickly than in other regions. Mother Nature takes her cut at a rate of 18% versus the industry standard 12%. That angel's share figure is striking. At 18%, Cedar Ridge is surrendering a full half again more whiskey to evaporation than the typical American distillery. That is not an inefficiency — it is a feature, a mark of a climate so volatile it accelerates what oak does to spirit in ways that more temperate regions simply cannot replicate.
Though Iowa cycles through all four seasons, there are really two extremes: blistering, humid summers and bone-dry, subzero winters. In the intervening seasons, temperatures swing wildly — twenty degrees in the night, seventy by afternoon. The wood breathes with each shift, expanding and contracting, pulling whiskey deep into the grain and back out again. For a rye whiskey, where grain character is the whole point, that kind of aggressive wood interaction produces results that distilleries in more moderate climates simply cannot engineer.
Cedar Ridge leans into this terroir with full conviction. The production process at Cedar Ridge works according to the grain-to-glass principle. Every step from field to glass is traceable and makes the distillery's whiskey "Authentic by Nature," in line with Cedar Ridge's slogan printed on every label. They store and mill corn and grain on-site. Initial bourbon batches were made using corn grown on their own family farm in Winthrop, Iowa — and while they have outgrown what the family farm can grow, they remain dedicated to using only Iowa corn.
The Rye Program: Building a Track Record Worth Trusting
Cedar Ridge's rye whiskey program did not appear overnight. It has been built brick by brick, release by release, over years of iteration. The foundation of that program is a high-rye mashbill — 85% rye, 12% corn, and 3% malted barley — that leans aggressively into grain character rather than hedging with corn-forward sweetness. It is a statement mashbill, the kind that announces the distillery's intentions without ambiguity.
The Bottled-in-Bond Rye has served as the program's annual anchor. Cedar Ridge Bottled-in-Bond Rye is an annual release from the distillery that comes out in July. This is in commemoration of the 1897 Bottled-in-Bond Act, a measure that looked to increase quality control by having the government oversee maturation of whiskey. It is distilled in one season, aged four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at 50% ABV. That commitment to the bonded standard — one distilling season, one distillery, four years, 100 proof — is a declaration of quality control in an era where many producers look for shortcuts.
The Double Barrel Rye program added further dimension to what Cedar Ridge could do with the grain. Batch 2 of the Double Barrel Rye came from nine barrels built on the same 85% rye mashbill, spending just over four years in new charred American oak before being transferred to fresh barrels of the same style for an additional ten months. The results demonstrated Cedar Ridge's ability to layer complexity without losing the grain's essential character. On the palate, sweet tobacco leads the way, joined by gingerbread spice that gives a sense of gentle heat. Midpalate, roasted espresso bean surfaces alongside lemongrass tea, adding both deep and bright character.
Those who have followed Cedar Ridge's rye output closely will recognize a house style: grain-forward without being rustic, spice-driven without being one-dimensional, and marked by a finish that honors Iowa's corn-sweetened agricultural heritage. At 85% rye, the whiskey reflects the hard work of the farm it came from. Its bold spice and hints of toasted biscuit up front are balanced by the sweetness of Iowa corn on its finish. Nine and Three Quarters Rye is the next chapter in that ongoing story.
The Production Philosophy Behind Cedar Ridge's Rye Releases
Understanding what goes into any Cedar Ridge release requires a look at the infrastructure that makes it possible. The stills run 24 hours a day, five days a week — three shifts from Sunday night through Friday night. It is a relentless rhythm, but one that reflects Cedar Ridge's dedication not just to volume, but to intention. The operation is not boutique in the romantic, low-output sense — it is a serious production facility that takes craft seriously at scale.
Murphy Quint runs a copper pot still built by CARL GmbH — Germany's oldest still manufacturer, founded in 1869 near Stuttgart. That choice of equipment matters. A copper pot still interacts with the distillate differently than a column still, contributing to a spirit with more retained congeners — the compounds responsible for complexity and character. The whiskey comes off the still at around 145 proof. As Murphy has explained, "One thing that we try really hard to do is produce slightly more approachable spirits while maintaining body, flavor, character. We don't want to strip all of that out — but we do want something more on the approachable side." Once distilled, the whiskey is barreled at 120 proof into 53-gallon virgin American oak — char number three — from Independent Stave Company.
The decision to barrel at 120 proof rather than the legal maximum of 125 is deliberate. It preserves more of the grain character in the new-make spirit before wood contact begins, meaning the rye itself has more presence in the finished whiskey. Combined with the extreme Iowa climate doing its work in non-temperature-controlled warehouses, the result is a whiskey that tastes unmistakably of its place.
Cedar Ridge lauers its mash to separate the liquid wort and spent grain. The wort is then fermented and distilled, while the spent grain is hauled off as animal feed for local farmers. That kind of circular, community-embedded agriculture is not incidental — it is part of what gives the distillery its authentic connection to the Iowa farming culture that surrounds it.
Nine and Three Quarters: What the Name Signals
The name Nine and Three Quarters carries its own gravitational pull. In American whiskey, naming conventions tend toward the literal — an age statement, a barrel count, a proof number, a family name. Nine and Three Quarters breaks that mold entirely. It invites curiosity rather than providing easy answers. It is the kind of name that demands the liquid justify it.
For a distillery that has built its reputation on production transparency and agricultural authenticity, choosing a name that leans toward the whimsical represents a meaningful creative pivot. It suggests Murphy Quint and his team are comfortable enough in their own identity to play — to release something that signals confidence without needing to anchor itself to conventional signifiers of quality. There is no years-aged statement on the label doing the marketing for them. The whiskey itself has to carry the weight.
The timing of this release is equally significant. Cedar Ridge is in the middle of its 20th anniversary year, a milestone that has brought both reflection and ambition to the operation. Founders Jeff and Laurie Quint and the rest of their family and team are celebrating Cedar Ridge's 20-year anniversary in style this summer at their beautiful property. Releasing a whiskey as distinctive as Nine and Three Quarters in the middle of that anniversary year is a deliberate statement: two decades in, Cedar Ridge is not coasting on what it has already built.
The Competitive Landscape: Where Iowa Rye Fits
American rye whiskey has undergone a genuine renaissance over the past fifteen years. The category that was nearly extinct by the mid-twentieth century has exploded back into relevance, driven by cocktail culture's rediscovery of the Manhattan and the Old Fashioned, combined with a consumer base that increasingly seeks out complexity over sweetness. High-rye mash bills — those above 51% rye grain — have proliferated as distillers chase the spice-forward, grain-driven profile that rye's most devoted fans crave.
Cedar Ridge has positioned itself in a corner of that market that is both underserved and strategically savvy: serious, high-rye production from a grain belt state with genuine agricultural roots. Unlike many rye whiskeys that source their grain from outside the region, Cedar Ridge's commitment to Iowa-grown inputs gives their rye a provenance story that resonates with the growing segment of American whiskey drinkers who care deeply about origin. The grain-to-glass production principle means every step from field to glass is traceable.
The distillery's winery background also gives them an unusual advantage when it comes to finishing and blending. As Murphy Quint has explained, "Because we're a winery, we're able to incorporate other unique elements into the whiskey and be more artistic in shaping flavor profiles. For The QuintEssential American Single Malt, for example, freshly-emptied wine casks contribute to the rich and complex flavor of the blend." That same creative latitude can be applied to rye expressions, giving Cedar Ridge tools that purely whiskey-focused distilleries simply do not have access to in the same integrated way.
As Murphy Quint has put it, "I think we've proven that you can build a successful whiskey brand from anywhere in the world. You can create a very traditional product in a not-so-traditional location." Nine and Three Quarters is perhaps the most direct embodiment of that philosophy to date — a whiskey that makes no geographical apologies and requires no Kentucky pedigree to justify its existence.
The Broader Iowa Whiskey Moment
Cedar Ridge's success has not happened in a vacuum. It is part of a broader revaluation of where American whiskey can come from and who gets to define what great grain spirit tastes like. Iowa is the largest producer of ethanol and corn in the United States — so it would make sense for the state to be a large producer of bourbon as well. The logic has always been there. What was missing was the distillery with the ambition and longevity to prove it.
Murphy Quint has articulated the larger goal with characteristic directness. "I'd simply like to see the state of Iowa get recognition as one of the greatest whiskey-producing states. That's a personal goal of mine. If you ask most whiskey consumers where their whiskey comes from, most of them will say Kentucky, Tennessee or Scotland." That answer is still largely true, but the margin is narrowing — and releases like Nine and Three Quarters Rye are doing the narrowing.
Cedar Ridge products are available for sale in over 30 states and five countries — a distribution footprint that would have seemed impossible when Jeff Quint was lobbying the state legislature in the early 2000s to restore Iowa's legal right to distill. The reach matters because it means Nine and Three Quarters Rye will land on shelves in markets far beyond the cornfields, introducing new audiences to what Iowa can produce.
What Enthusiasts Should Know Before They Buy
Cedar Ridge rye whiskeys have historically delivered what their production process promises: genuine grain character, driven by a high-rye mash bill that does not hedge with extra corn sweetness, aged aggressively by a climate that extracts more from each barrel in fewer years than most American whiskey regions. The angel's share figure alone — 18% versus the industry standard 12% — tells you that what remains in the barrel after years of Iowa weather has been concentrated and intensified in ways that a more temperate aging environment simply cannot produce.
For drinkers who have been working through Cedar Ridge's rye lineup, from the annual Bottled-in-Bond to the Double Barrel releases, Nine and Three Quarters represents an evolution in the distillery's creative ambition. It is a release that wears its name like a declaration of independence from whiskey convention — and that, in and of itself, is worth paying attention to. In a market crowded with age statements and familiar branding, a whiskey that invites you to simply taste it and find out is a refreshing provocation.
Each bottle bears a simple stamp: Authentic by Nature. For Cedar Ridge, it is more than a tagline. "It speaks to our distillation process and techniques," as the distillery describes it. "Each batch of Cedar Ridge whiskey takes on the character of Iowa's land and climate." Nine and Three Quarters Rye is the most recent proof that this is not marketing language — it is a production philosophy, executed by a family that has been farming and distilling from the same Iowa soil for more than a century.
The American craft whiskey world has spent years debating which regions, which states, and which distilleries deserve to sit alongside Kentucky and Tennessee in the conversation about what great American spirit looks like. Cedar Ridge has been making that argument with its whiskeys for two decades. Nine and Three Quarters Rye is not the beginning of that argument. It might be closer to its most compelling sentence yet.
