In 2014 while waiting for their own whiskey to mature, New Riff created an interim brand called O.K.I. which stands for Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. New Riff’s O.K.I. used MGP’s high rye bourbon to make a name for itself with its single barrel varieties and various age statements. In 2018 when New Riff’s own stock was ready to hit the market they discontinued the O.K.I. brand. In 2020 whiskey entrepreneurs Chad Brizendine and Jake Warm acquired the O.K.I. brand name from New Riff and continued releasing MGP sourced single barrel bourbons and recently a limited release single barrel rye. Incidentally, Brizendine was co-founder and Warm an early investor in George Remus bourbon, which was acquired in 2016 by MGP. This new O.K.I. release blends 5 different MGP mash bills aged between three to ten years to create this batch. Let’s get started.
Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested about 10 minutes.
Distillery:Sourced from MGP.
Proof: 100.
Age: Low Rye Bourbon: 7.8% 10 Year, 1.8% 9 Year, 23.3% 8 Year
High Rye Bourbon: 26.4% 8 Year, 0.2% 3 Year
Rye Whiskey: 12.2% 9 Year
Corn Whiskey: 4.6% 9 Year
Light Whiskey: 23.7% 10 Year.
Mash bill: Low Rye Bourbon: 75% Corn, 21% Rye, 4% Malted Barley
High Rye Bourbon: 60% Corn, 36% Rye, 4% Malted Barley
Rye Whiskey: 95% Rye, 5% Malted Barley
Corn Whiskey: 81% Corn, 15% Rye, 4% Malted Barley
Light Whiskey: 99% Corn, 1% Malted Barley.
Price: $80.00.
Appearance: Dark golden amber.
Nose
Toffee, banana rind, red berries with lot of orange citrus. Quite a lot of herbal notes of green tea and mint, vanilla, a hint pecan, baking spice and oak. This is both sweet and herbal upfront with a lot of orange in the mix. More sweet caramel, green tea and sage come forward as time goes on. The balance is very good no ethanol getting in the way.
Palate
The palate is very similar to the nose with caramel, banana, orange citrus with green tea and mint. A very good and balanced amount of baking spice enters the sip with pecan focusing on the mid and back palate. Although, this is a good tasting and easy drinking sipper, the overall profile is lacking much intensity, which is unfortunate considering all that went into this batch.
Finish
Baking spice lingers for quite a while with green tea, vanilla and caramel. As baking spice settles down, oak starts to peek through. With more time, subtle tannins of leather and tobacco show up towards the end creating a medium long finish.
Conclusion
I’ll just say it. This bottle is a letdown. I had high hopes when I saw what this batch looked like on paper. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer the experience I was expecting given the average age of whiskeys and 5 different mash bills that it took to create O.K.I Batch 1. The nose shows a lot of promise but goes downhill from there with a palate that’s flat and underwhelming. I would have loved to taste this batch at cask strength before it was proofed down to see if that’s the likely cause. Then again, I can think of other bourbons at 50% ABV that are a lot more flavorful, that cost less too. O.K.I. is using a very successful concept that Bardstown Bourbon Company has been doing with their Fusion and Discovery series but has failed in comparison. As successfully demonstrated with other brands, using various aged whiskeys and mash bills can create a batch that’s unique and sometimes better than the sum of its parts. Which is why I hope future O.K.I. batch releases are better than this one.
Rating: 5.8/10.
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.
