Excerpt: This bourbon is well put together and well presented with the caveat that bourbon drinkers that enjoy traditional sweeter bourbon flavors may be turned off by the uniqueness of this product.
Excerpt: There’s no ignoring the youth, but this is competently sourced, and this blend lends some much needed uniqueness to a sea of MGP products available to customers.
Excerpt: Notes of butterscotch, vanilla, dark chocolate, and more peanut brittle are all in effect, though the barrel remains dominant throughout. Looking back at my notes for Batch 1, I don’t see any major departures — except that this batch pushes the power of the barrel to an extreme.
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House Review
Intro:
This is the barrel proof release from Penelope, geared towards more discerning drinkers. Also a blend of 3 mashbills from MGP, this is released at barrel proof. Let's get to it.
Nose:
Sweet and cream filled - honey, vanilla bean, almost a nice lemon note. Orange peel, pepper, light tobacco. The MGP notes are there, and they’re always pleasant.
Taste:
Medium mouth feel. Some heat, but nothing too wild The first thing I notice is lots of vanilla, some praline and roasted walnuts. Some fruits, like apple and pear join some orange peel, some pepper and clove. A bit of oak which ties things up nicely. I can tell on the back palate that this is on the younger side of things, theres a bit more heat here and a hint of malt, but it’s very competent so far.
Finish:
Long and sweet here. The finish may be my favorite part - lots more tobacco here which is odd to find in younger bourbons. Tobacco, biscuits, toffee, pepper and honey all make an appearance.
Overall:
Overall, this is pretty nice. There’s no ignoring the youth, but this is competently sourced, and this blend lends some much needed uniqueness to a sea of MGP products available to customers. I like this. It’s not life changing but it’s good, and I am curious to see what other releases we may see from Penelope since they are just getting off their feet.
Score:
6
By t8ke
Our in house critic rates spirits on a scale of 0-10 (10 best) and is aggregated the same as external sources