New Riff Balboa Rye, Old Forester 1910 Extra Old, Westland Solum & More [New Releases]

Making whiskey from heirloom grains has been among the many pursuits of Newport, Kentucky-based New Riff Distilling since its launch in 2014. Now it's offering a new iteration of its Balboa rye label, which returns for the first time since its inaugural release in 2019. Meanwhile, Old Forester is bringing back its 1910 Extra Old label, and Westland returns with the third edition of its peated expression Solum, this time with significantly more bottles available. Elsewhere, terroir-drive Colorado distiller Laws is out with a new wheated whiskey, while the World Whiskey Society has expanded its Doc Holliday franchise with a bottled in bond bourbon.

Old Forester 1910 Extra Old Bourbon

ABV: 46.5%
SRP: $65
Availability: Limited

Earlier this month, Old Forester reintroduced its 1924 bourbon. Now, the distillery is bringing back another whiskey: 1910 Extra Old, which returns to shelves after a nearly three-year hiatus. The whiskey, which is part of Old Forester’s 117 Series, takes the flagship 1910 Old Fine—a bourbon that’s fully matured, then re-barreled into new lightly toasted, heavily charred barrels—and ages it for an additional 18 months in a secondary barrel that’s also lightly toasted and heavily charred.

The 117 series gets its name from 117 West Main Street in Louisville, which was the address of Old Forester’s distillery from 1882 to 1919 (Old Forester’s current Whiskey Row distillery is in the space next door). The limited-release whiskeys under the 117 banner showcase Old Forester’s experimental side, with previous expressions including a Speyside scotch-finished bourbon, an extra-aged bourbon, and bourbons finished in specific warehouses.

Westland Solum 3^rd Edition American Single Malt

ABV: 50%
SRP: $150
Availability: Limited

Westland’s exploration of locally sourced peat continues with the third release of its Solum American single malt. The latest edition is made from 100% Washington barley that is smoked with peat from the Pacific Northwest. The whiskey was aged in a combination of new and used oak casks, including ISC cooperage-sourced Cooper’s Select (air-seasoned for 18 months) and Cooper’s Reserve (air-seasoned for 24 months) barrels. This year, there are 5,700 bottles of Solum to go around, marking a notable increase from the 2nd and 1st editions, which yielded 5,212 bottles and 4,044 bottles, respectively.

An increasing number of whisky makers are tapping into local peat and discovering unique flavors. For Westland, Pacific Northwest peat is more herbal and earthy than its Islay counterpart, and distillery manager Tyler Pederson spotlights a distinctive Labrador tea note in Solum, coming directly from the peat.

New Riff Balboa Rye

ABV: 50%
Price: $55
Availability: Limited; beginning Friday, January 31st at 11 a.m. EST online pick up only, select retail locations, and at New Riff Distilling

Kentucky-based New Riff is back with a re-release of the limited-edition Balboa rye. Initially released in 2019, the whiskey became a fan favorite and received a favorable score of 90 from our tasting panel. The mashbill is composed of 5% malted rye and 95% of the lesser-known heirloom grain Balboa, a popular variety of rye grown in Kentucky dating back to the 1940s. New Riff’s corn supplier grew the crop on his farm for years before New Riff took notice, and became its exclusive customer. New Riff lays claim to being the first company to distill this rye variety in decades, and the only one currently distilling and bottling it.

This release is one of several New Riff expressions made from heirloom and unusual grains, including New Riff Red Turkey Wheat (using a 19th-century wheat varietal) and Winter Whiskey (made with malted oats). Last year was the first time Balboa became the primary varietal, seen in two spring releases: Ol’ New Riff high-rye straight bourbon (26% balboa rye) and straight rye (65% balboa rye). These expressions, along with the distillery's oldest whiskey to date, an 8 year old bourbon, and the newest Balboa Rye mark an exciting slew of whiskeys released over the past year officially under the guiding hand of the label’s first master distiller, Brian Sprance, a longtime consultant for the brand.

Laws Super Wheater Blend

ABV: 60.8%
SRP: $130
Availability: Limited

For its fourth release in the Origins Series, Laws has debuted a wheat-forward blend of straight whiskeys. The bottling marries Laws Four Grain bourbon with straight wheat whiskey made from 100% centennial wheat, a Colorado heirloom varietal. The barrels selected for the final blend were aged 5 to 12 years.

While the Laws Origin Series debuted in 2020 with Barrel no. 9, a 9 year old bourbon, the range’s roots stretch farther back. In 2013, the distilling team selected 28 barrels of then-2 year old Four Grain bourbon and married them in a stainless steel tank; this blend contained at least one barrel from each of the first 16 spirits runs ever conducted at the distillery, all of which were directed by Laws founder and CEO Al Laws and his mentor, Bill Friel, who had been the longtime master distiller at Kentucky’s Barton 1792). After the whiskey mingled within the stainless steel for a few days, it was moved back into char no. 3 barrels, each tagged with the word “Origins.” Friends and family purchased an interest in most of these Origin barrels, providing the distillery with the funds necessary to build the burgeoning brand, but each public Origins release represents the remaining unclaimed barrels.

World Whiskey Society Doc Holliday Bottled in Bond Straight Bourbon

ABV: 50%
SRP: $40
Availability: Limited

Independent bottler and rare whisky purveyor World Whiskey Society (WWS) has expanded its Doc Holliday lineup with a bottled in bond straight bourbon. The new whiskey comes in at 4 years old, and joins 7, 8, 10, 11, and 15 year old bourbons in the Doc Holliday range. The brand celebrates John Henry Holliday, an icon of the Wild West. A practicing dentist before he turned to gambling and gunslinging, Holliday was known colloquially throughout the U.S. as “Doc,” and was a close friend of Wyatt Earp (another famed figure of the Wild West, whose name also adorns a WWS range).