Color: Medium-light amber Nose: Maple, molasses, leather. Great nose. Reminds me of some other noses I've nosed in the past. Palate: Butterscotch, licorice, graham cracker. Slightly sweet with spicy oak. Medium mouth feel with very little burn. Buttery on the back of the tongue. Finish: Fairly long finish with baking spices... want to say "nutmeg", but not sure if that's it. Well, well... Every once in awhile, I will encounter a fairly inexpensive bottle that impresses me right out of the gate. This is one of them. I'd seen it on my grocery store shelf for a few weeks and it caught my attention when I first saw it. Finally decided to grab a bottle and I'm glad I did. This is excellent bourbon at this price point. I've read here and there how some have compared this to Weller. I totally get where they're coming from, and wouldn't be surprised if this beat it in a blind. I will definitely buy this again. I'm giving this a solid 4.25 stars.
About this bottle
Penelope Wheated Bourbon is the fifth expression added to Penelope's Core Series which also includes Architect, Barrel Strength, Four Grain, and Toasted. The wheated mash bill consists of 74% corn, 16% wheat, 7% rye, and 3% malted barley. Bottled at 95 proof, it's available nationwide beginning February 2025. (SRP $39.99)
How it tastes
Measured across 14 flavor axes. Tap a note to find other bottles that lead with it.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 34 parsed reviews.
NEAT NOSE - Sweet Corn, Vanilla, and Honey PALATE - Very light on the palate. This is decently sweet, but not overly sweet. The vanilla and honey come through on the palate and it transitions to a buttery caramel note. This is a four grain, but I don’t get any hint if spice here. Very beautiful bourbon at a enticing pricepoint. FINISH - The finish fades away slowly, but doesn’t linger. I’m happy with the finish at this age and proce point. BUY? - Absolutely. BUY AGAIN? - Yes. It’s a no brainer at the flavor and price point.
On the nose, classic wheated bourbon. A little dusty, sweet and appealing. On the oalate, oily, light and sweet. Caramel in feel and taste iff the bat, that breaks into a weird scotch-like burn and flavor mixed with a bourbon (not bad, but different) and ends with vanilla and cinnamon leading to some burn. Finish is not super long but it does not fade away to the ether either. Its tasty, a little spicy towards the end, drinking a little houer proof than it is but for the $35 i paid, its a great option. I was impressed, its tasty
Glass: Glencairn, rested 15 minutes. Color: Light amber. Nose: Cornbread with a hint of cinnamon. Palate: Baking spice, clove, a hint of cinnamon. Finish: Medium length with medium heat. Splash: Ni new flavors are revealed. Overall: 7.5/10 - This is a rare disappointment in the Penelope line, but for the price I can't really complain.
Neat it's dry, sour apple and cinnamon. There's really only one flavor - cinnamon. Not the candy red hots, just spice and astringent. One small ice cube cut the astringent and knocked the spice down a notch. No complexity at all. Thin feel. At $40, for I'll buy Bernheim and Larceny for my wheater fix.
It’s just good. Not gonna over analyze this…I could see it up against the Weller lineup and taking some W’s. I get a sweet honey taste with other bourbon flavors that you’d expect. It just makes me happy and I’m hoping to see this as the new Weller Special Reserve (minus allocations).
28 more reviews were collected for this bottle. The longest ones are shown first.
Tastes like this
Closest flavor profiles across the whole catalog.
