There's a quiet revolution happening in Northern Kentucky, and it doesn't involve bourbon. New Riff Distilling, based in Newport, has just dropped the fourth release of its Single Malt Whiskey — a 2026 expression that pulls together some of the oldest malt whiskeys the distillery has ever produced. For anyone who follows American whiskey closely, this one is worth paying attention to.
New Riff isn't a newcomer to the single malt game, but it is still something of a rarity. When the distillery opened its doors in 2014, it started distilling malt whiskey almost immediately — long before the category had any real traction in the United States. That first batch didn't hit shelves until 2023, which means the team spent nearly a decade quietly working, experimenting, and waiting. That kind of patience is rare in any industry, and in the whiskey world, it tends to pay off.
What Makes the 2026 Release Different
Every year's single malt is a blend, but the 2026 version is the most layered one New Riff has put together so far. It combines six different mashbills aged across five distinct cask types, and for the first time, it includes Chevallier malt — an heirloom barley variety that dates back to the 1800s and was popular in the British brewing scene of the 19th century. Bringing that ingredient into a Kentucky whiskey is the kind of move that takes both confidence and a deep understanding of raw materials.
Image credit: New Riff
Master Distiller Brian Sprance didn't hold back when describing what the team was going for. "This is one of the most creative whiskeys we make, and a blend we look forward to revisiting every year," he said. "These whiskeys are inspired by malted barleys used in the brewing industry, reimagined through our Kentucky regimen."
That Kentucky regimen is the backbone of everything New Riff does. Sour mash, open fermentation, and a column still — methods with deep roots in American distilling — give this single malt a character that sets it apart from its Scottish or Irish counterparts. It isn't trying to imitate anything. It's doing something genuinely its own.
Breaking Down the Mashbill
The numbers behind the 2026 Single Malt tell a story on their own. The whiskey is made from 100% malted barley, but the breakdown of exactly which malts go into the blend is where things get interesting.
Marris Otter accounts for 11.7% of the mashbill. This is a classic low-nitrogen British malt that brewers have relied on for generations. Golden Promise comes in at 14.1%, another heritage variety with Scottish origins known for its clean, slightly sweet profile. The largest portion — 27.7% — is a beer-inspired Barleywine malt, which immediately signals that the New Riff team is drawing heavily from the craft brewing world for inspiration. Belgian Quadrupel malt makes up 16.5%, bringing the kind of depth and dark fruit notes usually associated with Trappist-style ales. Scottish peated barley holds an 18% share, adding smoke to the equation. And then there's Chevallier at 12%, the newcomer that ties the whole concept together.
Each of these malts brings something specific to the table. The real craft is in knowing how to stack them, balance them, and let them develop in wood without any single element drowning out the others.
Five Casks, One Vision
The wood program behind this release is just as deliberate as the grain selection. New Riff aged these whiskeys across five different cask types: new charred oak, de-charred toasted oak, used bourbon barrels, Spanish oloroso sherry casks, and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks.
That combination covers a lot of ground. New charred oak brings the classic American whiskey backbone — vanilla, caramel, char. De-charred toasted oak works differently, pulling out spice and wood tannins without the heavy carbon layer, which allows more of the grain character to come through. Used bourbon barrels add a gentler oak influence with lingering sweetness from their previous contents. The oloroso sherry casks contribute dried fruit, nuttiness, and oxidative depth. And Pedro Ximenez casks — seasoned with one of the richest, sweetest sherries made anywhere in the world — add a dense, raisin-forward sweetness that rounds out the edges.
Taken together, those five cask types are pulling the whiskey in several directions at once, and the job of the blending team is to make sure they arrive somewhere coherent. According to Sprance, that's exactly what happened. "We've spent years working with a wide range of malts, and that experience is really shown through how this whiskey comes together," he said. "Each component can stand on its own, but the real magic is in how they interact, showcasing our expertise in blending and bringing all of those elements into balance."
How It Tastes
Bryon Martin, who serves as Sensory and Warehouse Manager at New Riff, laid out the tasting profile in detail. On the nose, the whiskey opens with broad oak and toasty notes that give way to rich dark fruit, cacao, and smoky citrus. That's a lot happening before it even hits the glass.
On the palate, oak-forward notes lead the way into something juicy and fruit-driven, with a chewy texture that suggests real age and extract. Sherry and smoke show up together in the mid-palate, and the finish lands on zesty orange marmalade and a slow fade of peat smoke that lingers well after the last sip.
That arc — from toasty oak at the start to peat and citrus at the end — reflects how many different components are working together. It's not a simple whiskey, but it's also not one that requires a PhD to enjoy. The complexity is there for people who want to dig into it, and the overall balance makes it accessible enough to drink without overthinking.
What It Costs and Where to Get It
The 2026 Single Malt comes in at $69.99, which puts it in a price range where a lot of serious whiskey drinkers feel comfortable spending without much deliberation. For something this intricate — six mashbills, five cask types, years of development — that's a fair number.
It's bottled at 111.7 proof without chill filtration, which means nothing has been stripped out to make it look prettier in the bottle. Chill filtration is a common practice that removes some of the natural oils and compounds that can cause cloudiness at lower temperatures, but those same compounds carry flavor. Skipping that step is a choice that prioritizes what's in the glass over aesthetics, and it's a choice that whiskey drinkers tend to respect.
The release goes on sale nationwide starting Friday, May 15. It will be available at select retailers across the country, through online ordering for both shipping and pickup, and directly at the distillery gift shop in Newport.
New Riff's Bigger Story
It's worth stepping back and looking at what New Riff has built over the past decade or so, because the single malt is just one piece of a larger operation that has been quietly putting Northern Kentucky on the serious whiskey map.
The distillery is independently owned, which matters more than it might seem. Independence means the people making decisions about what to distill, how long to age it, and when to release it aren't answering to a corporate timeline or a parent company's quarterly targets. It means an experiment like the single malt program — which required years of investment before a single bottle ever went to market — is actually possible.
New Riff sources its water from an alluvial aquifer directly beneath the distillery, accessed through a private well drilled 100 feet down. That water is cold, clean, and mineral-rich, which matters throughout the entire distilling process from mashing through dilution.
Earlier in 2026, the distillery's flagship Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon was recognized as the World's Best Bourbon at the World Whiskies Awards — a significant acknowledgment for a distillery that has been operating for just over a decade.
The physical space in Newport was renovated in 2023, and now includes the Riff Shop on the ground level — which offers customizable gifting options and locally sourced goods — and The Aquifer Tasting Room on the third floor, where visitors can try cocktails, flights, and pours from the full portfolio, including limited and distillery-exclusive releases. For anyone passing through the Cincinnati metro area or heading into bourbon country, it's worth building into the itinerary.
The Chevallier Factor
The introduction of Chevallier malt into the 2026 blend deserves a bit more attention than it might get in a standard product announcement. Chevallier is not a malt that distillers or brewers reach for easily, because it largely disappeared from commercial agriculture during the 20th century as higher-yielding modern barley varieties took over. In recent years, a handful of heritage grain enthusiasts and craft maltsters have worked to revive it, and it has started appearing in specialty craft beers with some regularity.
Bringing it into a Kentucky whiskey blend for the first time is a meaningful move. Chevallier is known for producing a clean, slightly biscuity, delicate malt character — different from the big flavors that some of the other components in this blend are known for. At 12% of the mashbill, it isn't dominating the profile, but Sprance made clear that it's adding a layer that wasn't there before.
"This year, we were especially excited to introduce Chevallier malt into the blend, a variety that brings a distinct character and adds another layer to the overall profile," he said. The emphasis on introducing it rather than featuring it suggests the team is thinking about it as a long-term element of the blend rather than a one-off novelty.
A Category Worth Following
American single malt whiskey as a category has been gaining ground for years, but it still represents a small fraction of what gets produced and consumed domestically. Bourbon and rye dominate the conversation, and Scotch tends to own the high-end imported malt market. American single malt sits in an interesting space between those worlds — familiar enough in process to resonate with bourbon drinkers, but distinct enough in character to appeal to people who gravitate toward Scotch.
New Riff has been working in that space longer than most. The distillery started before there was even a formal category definition, and it has spent years figuring out what American single malt can be on its own terms rather than as an imitation of something else. The 2026 release is the clearest statement yet of where that decade-plus of work has landed.
For anyone who has been curious about what happens when Kentucky distilling traditions meet the full range of the malting world's possibilities, this is exactly the kind of whiskey that answers that question.
