New Riff, a family-owned distillery in Newport, has taken on a project to help those in an industry whom they credit with their own success. It has released an extremely limited-edition bourbon with all proceeds going to individuals who work in the restaurant and bar industry.
“As far as production of spirits and sales of bottles, we had a good year. Our customers were still drinking; they were just drinking at home,” said Hannah Lowen, vice president of operations at New Riff. “We saw a boom in home mixology, but that meant that our friends who work in bars and restaurants had really suffered.”
So, the folks at New Riff looked into ways to help. They created a fund to benefit restaurant and bar workers in northern Kentucky and the Cincinnati area whose jobs have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those workers can apply to qualify for a $300 grant to help them through these hard times.
The creation of the fund was a think-outside-the-box moment. New Riff’s first bourbons hit the market in 2018, but prior to the release of bourbon distilled at the Newport location, they had purchased barrels of bourbon that had been distilled in Indiana. The barrels sat in New Riff’s warehouse for several years, and distillery officials were not sure what they would do with them.
“As we discussed what we could do, what kind of impact could we have, we remembered we had these barrels,” Lowen said. “They are all 15 years old and were delicious when they were younger and even better now. It is a great way to make use of what would have been a small release.”
With fewer than 900 bottles, New Riff Relief 15 Year Straight Bourbon Whiskey was released on March 4. Described as a rare high-rye bourbon, bottled in bond with no chill filtration, the bottles were available only at the distillery’s gift shop and through single pours in the tasting room. Priced at $200 per bottle, the entire inventory sold out in two minutes.
New Riff founder Ken Lewis formerly had owned one of Kentucky’s largest independent liquor retailers, The Party Source in northern Kentucky. He sold that business in 2014 and began distilling.
New Riff bourbons have quality standards based on the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897. In what is now referred to as the first consumer-protection law, the United States government placed strict guidelines for distillers to follow when making bourbon, thus guaranteeing that the consumer was getting exactly what the label indicated. Among other requirements, bourbon had to be aged in a federally bonded warehouse for at least four years and bottled at 100 proof. New Riff takes those requirements one step further. It has done away with chill filtration, as explained on the distillery’s website, “to ensure that not a single molecule of flavor is sacrificed for cosmetic appearances.” Lowen said this is part of New Riff’s commitment to quality.
The small distillery near the banks of the Ohio River is known for its generosity in the community.
When consumers were desperate to purchase hand sanitizer last spring in the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lowen said the distillery stopped on a dime and transferred some of the production of spirits over to make sanitizer. New Riff delivered 55-gallon drums to area hospitals, fire departments and police departments.
“One of the things at New Riff that we are really proud of is that we are all about making fantastic spirits, but we also have a greater mission beyond that,” Lowen said. “It is about improving our little corner of the world as best we can. It felt like our responsibility to help where we could.”