431 - Grain and Grit with Jay Erisman of New Riff

Bourbon Pursuit

Hobbies, Food, Arts, Leisure

4.9 • 866 Ratings

🗓️ 12 October 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

New Riff has been a brand that many whiskey enthusiasts have followed for many years. I was excited to have Jay Erisman on the show, once again, to talk about his vision for New Riff. Jay came into the industry with no production experience but learned the ropes quickly. Under the guise of Ken Lewis, New Riff put a focus on unique grain experimentation over finishes. Over time, that itch for curiosity has built famous releases based on heirloom grains and a brand new vision for single malt. Through collaborations with farmers and consumers, New Riff has charted its own adventure in the spirits world Show Notes: Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) talks about nosing high proof spirits. Can you tell everyone again about how you got started at The Party Source and New Riff? Do you remember doing private Van Winkle picks? How did Ken Lewis impact today's retail of beverage alcohol? How did you get smart real quick on running a distillery with no background? What brands inspired you to figure out what your whiskey was going to be? Did you make a bet on grain experimentation vs finishes? Have your batches been all luck or have there been some duds? Does New Riff have a higher educated consumer fanbase? Did you all try to embrace the single barrel fad? What's the thought process behind the single malt project? Did you learn anything from the Kentucky regimine of heirloom varieties? @newriff Support this podcast on Patreon

Transcript

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0:00.0	He says it was my idea.
0:01.9	I know it was his idea because I never went to him and said,
0:04.4	Mr. Lewis, you should sell this successful store to the employees, by the way,
0:09.4	and put a distillery in the parking lot.
0:11.2	I never said that to him.
0:12.7	I promise it'll all work out.
0:14.3	Yeah.
0:14.6	And here we are.
0:15.5	You know, it worked.
0:16.8	We're a bourbon company.
0:29.5	Yeah. We're a bourbon company. This is Bourbon Pursuit, the official podcast of Bourbon, bringing to you the best in news, reviews, and interviews with people making the bourbon
0:38.7	whiskey industry happen, and I'm one of your host, Kenny Coleman. NewRiff has been a brand that
0:44.0	many whiskey enthusiasts have followed for a lot of years, and I was excited to have Jay Erisman
0:49.2	on the show once again to talk about his vision for New Riff. Jay came into the industry with no production experience at all, but he learned the ropes
0:58.0	quickly, and under the guise of Ken Lewis, NewRiff put a focus on unique grain experimentation
1:03.6	instead of looking at cask finishes.
1:06.9	And over time, that itch for curiosity has built famous releases based on heirloom grains and a brand new vision for single malt.
1:15.4	Through collaborations with farmers and consumers, NewRiff has charted its own adventure in the spirit's world.
1:21.6	With that, enjoy this week's episode.
1:24.4	And now here's Fred Minnick with Above the Char.
1:30.5	I'm Fred Minnick, and this is Above the Char.
1:39.9	This week's idea comes from Garrett McCulch, who writes me on Fred Minnick.com. I've been spending a lot of time tasting and nosing spirits, mostly whiskeys, and while I love sipping on high proof spirits,
	...

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