The Commonwealth’s world-famous bourbon and whiskey trail has roots in Northern Kentucky. Now, following meetNKY’s first-ever John G. Carlisle Bottled-in-Bond (BIB) Competition and Celebration, it has a new award-winning crowd-favorite, too.
New Riff Distilling was crowned as the winner at the event which took place this week at Smoke Justis in Covington.
The competition invited guests to enjoy a four-course tasting menu and blind-pour guided tasting of some of the best BIB whiskey varietals in the country – the winning New Riff, Old Forester 1897, Benchmark Bonded, and Rittenhouse Rye.
Attendees also enjoyed an additional surprise pour of Old Pogue’s Old Maysville Club Bonded Rye Whiskey. New Riff was crowned as the best BIB based on the popular vote of those in attendance, becoming the first-ever John G. Carlisle Award winner.
“It is a real honor to be selected as one of the best-bonded whiskies by those who know and love the spirit,” said New Riff Co-Founder Jay Erisman. “We were up against some stiff competition and we’re thrilled to come out on top. This event was a really great way to highlight some of those things that makes Kentucky so special—our native whiskey, and the world’s highest standards to produce it.”
The meetNKY event coincided with the 125th anniversary of the passage of the BIB Act and the impact Carlisle, a former Covington resident, had on pushing the act through Congress. Prior to the Act’s passage in 1897, whiskey being produced nationwide often included harmful additives like iodine and even paint thinner. The Act established stringent standards and an authentication process to uphold the quality of whiskey-making in America.
Participating BIB distillers are required to put their products into federally bonded warehouses for at least four years and bottle at 100 proof (50% alcohol by volume). Owners must also stipulate on the labels of their bottles where the whiskey is distilled and location if is bottled off-site from the distillery itself.
The event is an example of the ones meetNKY hopes to use to highlight the best of the region in accordance with a 2019 partnership it established with the NKY Chamber of Commerce (NKY Chamber). Kentucky’s Edge events focus on highlighting elements of Kentucky that gives the state and region an “edge,” which continue to evolve and grow after being temporarily delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Celebrating what makes us unique is an excellent way to not only raise Northern Kentucky’s pride, but also its profile on a global scale,” said meetNKY President and CEO Julie Kirkpatrick.
“Bottled-in-Bond is a recognized symbol of quality, which is representative of the same type of quality we seek for our workforce and standard of living across our region. Being able to host this inaugural event in a setting like Smoke Justis with the iconic view of the Roebling Bridge as our backdrop was an excellent accelerant to continue our push to produce more opportunities to make people take notice of all Northern Kentucky has to offer.”
