New Riff Distilling earns Medals in 2024 Barleycorn Awards + Prestigious Award from The Whiskey Exchange

New Riff Distilling was recently awarded medals in the Fall 2024 John Barley Corn Awards competition, receiving Double Gold, Gold and Silver awards for all 6 of their submissions in both the Taste and Marketing and Design categories. The Whiskey Exchange also announced New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled in Bond as Whiskey of the Year for 2025.  

Created by spirits writers and marketers to honor creative excellence in all aspects of the spirits industry — from formulating and distilling products to innovative promotion and imaging — the John Barleycorn Awards honor exceptional work in separate categories for taste and for marketing/design. The Taste judging is under the leadership of noted author and spirits writer John McCarthy who oversees some of the world’s top spirits writers, as well as runs the BarleycornDrinks blog. 

In the Taste category, the distillery medaled in the following:  

Double Gold Medals: New Riff 8-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey; and New Riff Kentucky Wild Gin Bourbon Barreled  

Gold Medals: New Riff 8-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; and New Riff Kentucky Straight Maled Rye Whiskey  

Siver Medal: New Riff Single Malt 

In the Marketing and Design category, New Riff’s Headliner Inaugural Release received a Double Gold Medal. Headliner was released during the distillery’s tenth anniversary last June, and depicts a unique label inspired by classic concert posters. The label was designed and hand-screen printed by Cincinnati-based companies Dewhaus and DIY Printing, with additional label printing from Northern Kentucky-based Steinhauser, Inc., Powerhouse Factories and Otto Printing.  

The 2024 “Best of Year” Barleycorn winners will be selected from the highest spring and fall scores. 

This week, The Whiskey Exchange crowned New Riff’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled in Bond as Whiskey of the Year for 2025. The bottle was chosen from a shortlist of six by a panel of industry experts and attendees at their judging event in London. Learn more about the award here.