Review: Cedar Ridge Nine and Three Quarters Rye

In June 2026, Swisher, Iowa’s Cedar Ridge Distillery unveiled its oldest whiskey to date, a release from Master Distiller and Master Blender Murphy Quint titled Nine & Three Quarters Rye Whiskey. At first glance, the name almost invites thoughts of Platform 9¾ from the Harry Potter series, the fictional gateway at London’s King’s Cross Station reserved for witches and wizards. Cedar Ridge has never made that connection, and the title is far more literal than literary. It simply reflects the age of the whiskey, with every barrel in the blend spending at least nine and three-quarter years in oak.

Even so, the comparison offers an interesting starting point. Platform 9¾ concealed something extraordinary behind an ordinary train station wall. Cedar Ridge has spent years doing something similar. While Kentucky garners most of the attention in American whiskey, this Iowa distillery has steadily built a reputation that deserves far more notice. And if anyone can be dubbed a “whiskey wizard,” Murphy Quint is a strong candidate.

Nine & Three Quarters traces its story back nearly a decade. The whiskey matured in barrels sourced from Independent Stave Co. with a #3 char, filled long before most of Cedar Ridge’s current rickhouses existed. As the distillery expanded, those barrels were relocated from one warehouse to another, growing alongside the operation itself.

Some things have remained consistent during that time. Cedar Ridge’s fermentation time of four to five days, still proof of 140 to 145 proof, and barrel entry proof of 120 proof are unchanged from when these barrels were filled. The rye grain, however, tells a different story. Nearly ten years ago, Cedar Ridge relied primarily on malted rye. Today, cereal rye makes up the foundation of most of the distillery’s rye whiskey, and the mashbill has gone through numerous revisions along the way. That ongoing experimentation has given Quint an extensive range of blending options. For Nine & Three Quarters, he returned to the distillery’s earlier approach, leaning heavily on malted rye with a mashbill of 85% rye, 12% corn, and 3% malted barley.

Allocated whiskey is rarely the sort of bottle waiting on the shelf at your local liquor store. Is Nine & Three Quarters one of the fortunate exceptions, or is Murphy Quint’s latest whiskey wizardry something that can only be accessed through Platform 9¾?

Cedar Ridge Nine & Three Quarters Rye Whiskey Review

The nose opens with ripe plums and an abundance of grapefruit zest. Given a few extra minutes in the glass, aromas of French toast, minus the maple syrup, begin to develop alongside anise. From beginning to end, grapefruit zest remains the defining note, anchoring the bouquet from the first pass to the last. If poured blind, I’d have little trouble identifying this as a whiskey built around a substantial amount of malted rye. Its influence comes across as fruity and herbal, with very little spice competing for attention.

The palate delivers stewed plums and well-chewed cinnamon gum, followed immediately by the realization that the mouthfeel is exceptionally dense and oily. Once the viscosity registers, Lipton Brisk Peach Tea comes into sharp focus, joined by the grapefruit zest first encountered on the nose. Just as it does aromatically, the malted rye makes its presence known from start to finish.

The finish introduces prunes, black pepper, and a fresh stick of juicy cinnamon gum, replacing the well-chewed cinnamon gum from the palate with a brighter expression. Just before the whiskey fades away, pickled ginger makes a brief appearance.

I love everything about this rye whiskey. That said, malted rye is not for everyone, though it certainly is for me. Drinkers chasing the pronounced spice that has become closely associated with rye whiskey, most often the result of unmalted rye, may find malted rye’s fruit-forward, floral profile less appealing simply because that signature rye spice is largely absent. Although the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) classifies both unmalted rye and malted rye under the same “rye whiskey” designation, they offer entirely different drinking experiences. In many respects, malted rye stands on its own, despite the fact that no separate legal category exists.

For anyone looking for an outstanding example of a high-quality malted rye whiskey, or at least one built with a significant amount of malted rye, this is the best I’ve encountered. Factor in an age of just shy of 10 years, a potent 115 proof, and a price of only $60, and the value is extraordinary. Whiskey offering this combination of maturity, proof, originality, and overall quality rarely lands anywhere near this price point.

115 proof.

A / $60

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