Proof: 100 proof

Description: In 2022, Atelier Vie was awarded a Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for Riz, Louisiana Rice Whiskey, Bottled in Bond. The San Francisco competition is considered by many as the most prestigious spirits competition in the world. This initial release of our Bonded version of Riz has long since been sold out. After years of patient aging, Bonded Riz is back.

We distilled this 2024 release of Bonded Riz in the Fall season of 2019 and entered the whiskey into second use 25 gallon barrels on December 26, 2019. This release is a combination of three barrels, which were previously used for wheat whiskey and rye whiskey. The whiskey was aged for a total of four years, one month, and six days.

We handcraft Riz in small batches from 100% Louisiana rice in our New Orleans distillery. Riz is the original Louisiana rice whiskey; we have been distilling Riz since 2012.
The production process is similar to making a corn whiskey or bourbon. We start by cooking and gelatinizing the rice; then we use enzymes for liquefaction and saccharification. After cooling the rice mash to fermentation temperature, we add a whiskey yeast and create a distiller’s beer at around 8% ABV. Unlike some spirits, which are fermented in a few days, the rice ferments for two weeks or more.

The fermented mash is double pot distilled. In our initial “stripping run,” we produce “low wines” at around 60 proof (30% ABV). For the second run, known as the “spirit run,” we charge the still with the low wines and with tails from a previous run. The tails come from the final portion of the pot still run; there is still plenty of alcohol in the tails, but the flavor is bitter and earthy. Adding the tails back into the next spirit run adds additional flavor and complexity to the new make whiskey. From the spirit run, we produce new make whiskey at around 150 proof (75% ABV).

We dilute this new make whiskey to barreling strength and enter it into the barrels. In the case of this Bonded release of Riz, the original entry strength was around 120 proof. After aging, the proof had risen to around 127 proof when it was removed from the barrel.