New Riff Distilling Backsetter Bourbon

Mash Bill: 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% malted barley

Proof: 100 proof

Age: 4-Years

For this opening Backsetter salvo, we have used backset collected from a distillation of peat-smoked malted barley, which lends a wonderfully smoky cast to the whiskeys. The resultant smoky flavor is hauntingly unique, with layers of peat enveloping spicy rich Rye and Bourbon, respectively,” said the distillery.

The Backsetters don’t use peated grains themselves, only backset from a previous peated distillation. In the malting process, the barley grain is soaked in water, causing it to germinate or sprout. It’s then heated in a kiln to stop the germination. In this case, as is often the case in Scotland, the kiln used to stop the germination was heated with peat. The peat adds an intensely smoky flavor to the grain, which is then cooked and distilled to make whiskey. Sour mash whiskey is made by using backset from a previous distillation in order to kickstart the fermentation of a new batch, much like sourdough bread.