Newport, Kentucky’s New Riff Distilling is in the midst of a major generational shift.
Founder Ken Lewis is officially retiring March 6 at this week’s board meeting. The move will usher in a new era of leadership.
Hannah Lowen, one of the distillery’s original eight employees, will take over as CEO. Ken Lewis’s daughter Mollie Lewis will step in as president, and Denny Gorman, who joined in 2019 from Sam Adams, is the new chief operating officer.
Hannah Lowen, one of the distillery’s original eight employees, will take over as CEO. Ken Lewis’s daughter Mollie Lewis will step in as president, and Denny Gorman, who joined in 2019 from Sam Adams, is the new chief operating officer. Hannah Lowen, one of the distillery’s original eight employees, will take over as CEO. Ken Lewis’s daughter Mollie Lewis will step.
“We’ve got a great team that’s a younger team already taking the reins. That’s the way I’ve wanted to do it.”
Ken Lewis - Founder, New Riff Distilling
Mollie Lewis told me that she’s proud of what her father has built, and she can’t wait to continue pushing the company forward with the rest of the leadership team.
“I feel great,” she told me. “I feel excited and prepared. I trust Hannah and Denny, my co-leadership team.”
Although Ken Lewis is retiring, he’s still the operating owner and will remain on the distillery’s board.
“Ken will not disappear into the sunset. We’re all looking forward to seeking his guidance and bending his ear,” Mollie Lewis said. “He’s been a magnanimous presence here and will continue to do so, just in a slightly different incarnation.”
Ken Lewis announced his plan to step back last summer, and since then, he said the shift of power has been very gradual.
“I wanted to make sure that unlike most people, I exit as well as I enter,” Ken Lewis said.
New Riff to expand nationwide footprint in 2024.
In addition to the leadership change, 2024 is a massive year for the distillery. As New Riff marks 10 years, the future growth will be smart and measured. Part of that strategic effort involves getting the right people in the right seats.
In January, the distillery named longtime employee Brian Sprance as the company’s first master distiller. Last month, Rawnica Dillingham was announced as the new chief sales officer.
“She’s taken a lot of my day-to-day responsibilities off my plate. She’s fantastic,” Mollie Lewis said. “Now it’s time for the next challenge, and I have time and the headspace for it. Bring it on.”
Part of New Riff’s plan for 2024 involves expanding its nationwide footprint. The organization has been eyeing Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina for a while. Mollie Lewis said she hopes those new sales will be up and running before the end of the first quarter. Mollie Lewis said New Riff expects to have some additional markets open before the end of the year.
The distillery is also marking a historic shift with the release of its oldest bourbon yet.
Starting March 8, New Riff 8-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey will hit the market. The company calls it the “unprecedented first fruit” of initial whiskeys set back for further aging.
“As much acclaim as we have received from the bourbon community for our 4-year-old, bottled-in-bond and single-barrel offerings, we knew the real excitement would come from genuinely older whiskey,” co-founder Jay Erisman said in a news release. “And here it is — the beginning of the future and the next wave of New Riff.”
The bourbon delivers savory, spicy flavors over the inimitable foundation of fully fledged Kentucky whiskey, according to the distillery. An abundance of rye spice is present; however, secondary and tertiary flavors are significantly deeper and more developed.
Although the distillery is known for its commitment to bottled-in bond standards, leadership made the “difficult but necessary” decision to waive that status for this release, focusing on a wider distribution network than previous specialty releases. Despite meeting all other requirements of bonded whiskey, due to the comparatively small production from the earliest years of New Riff, this release blends bourbons from two distilling seasons, the company said.
New Riff waited four years to release its first bourbons, which were all bottled in bond. To be labeled as bottled in bond, bourbon must be produced in one distillation season – which lasts six months, beginning either in January or July – aged in a federally bonded warehouse under government supervision for at least four years and bottled at 100 proof, or 50 percent alcohol by volume.
The bourbons are also not treated with chill filtration, which removes fatty acids left over from the fermentation process. Chill filtration leaves liquids clear and crisp but arguably with less flavor and aroma.
Since releasing its first products in 2018, New Riff has invested millions of dollars into expanding. The distillery in 2021 underwent a $2 million expansion to boost its production capacity by 50%, followed by a $9 million expansion in 2022 to double the number of bourbon barrels it is able to age.
The distillery also just spent $3 million renovating its Newport facility. The project included some major changes to its rooftop patio, a refurbished first floor and a complete relocation of its Aquifer bar from the first floor to the third floor.
New Riff spent a year doing a $3 million renovation project on the space.
Ken Lewis has maintained throughout the distillery’s existence his goal was to create one of the great small distilleries of the world. As such, he was in no hurry to release New Riff’s first products. While the distillery did sell bourbon under the O.K.I. brand, the alcohol was produced by a third party and then sold by New Riff.
Lewis said he’s confident the new leadership team will be able to ride the long wave that is the bourbon industry. He said the bourbon bubble won’t necessarily pop, but big percentage gains are diminishing.
While there will be some growth this year and in the near term, I think some of the exuberant growth is over.,” Ken Lewis said. “The bourbon growth is not over, but the bourbon boom is over as far as we’re concerned … and that definitely affects our strategic plan.”
Ken Lewis predicts that over the next five or so years, the market is going to get increasingly competitive. He added the industry will likely see a bit of a shake out, with weaker brands consolidating or disappearing altogether. He thinks non-distiller-produced brands are very vulnerable. All that being said, he isn’t worried at all about the future of New Riff.
“New Riff and plenty of others that have a genuine story and are making really good whiskey and have been fairly pricing their products and working assiduously in the market with retailers and the on premise are going to be okay,” Ken Lewis said. “We’ve got a niche, and we haven’t overexpanded.”
He believes the shift will be good for both the industry and the consumer. Regardless of what happens, Ken Lewis said his goal is to remain fully independent.