Penelope Bourbon has garnered much respect over the past few years for the quality of their core releases, as well as their numerous special releases. Of particular interest to me in the past couple years was the hype that had built up around the Havana and Rio releases, part of Penelope’s Cooper Series special releases. While I originally thought the Cooper in the name had to do with the makers of the barrels, it actually is named for the company’s founder’s son, who is working to marry some of Penelope’s finest whiskies with specialty barrels from other places. Not all the Cooper Series is finished whiskey, though, as two of their core series are the Four Grain and Wheated Bourbon, neither of which seems to be subject to secondary finishing.
First up is Havana, “Inspired by the neon lights, warm humid nights, and mambo beats.” The bourbon starts with a 4-grain mash bill of 74% corn, 7% rye, 16% wheat, and 3% malted barley before being finished in Caribbean rum casks and maple syrup casks. It is non-chill filtered and bottled at 93 proof (46.5% ABV).
The bourbon is a light amber color and smells extremely sweet in the glass. The combination of molasses notes from the rum, caramel and vanilla from the bourbon, and a very slight maple syrup accent make for a delightful aroma. Taking a sip, I found the Penelope Havana is every bit as sweet on the palate as it smells on the nose. The maple syrup note is prevalent on the tip of the tongue, pushing aside molasses and brown sugar note to be small supporting players. There is some vanilla in the mix, too, before it hits the mid-palate and takes on some spice. Overall, I do like this bourbon, but only in very small amounts because it it almost cloyingly sweet.
Then we head to Rio, which is hyped as “a carnival in a bottle.” It uses the same 4-grain mash bill for the bourbon, before it is finished first in honey barrels, then in new Amburana barrels from Brazil. It is bottled at 98 proof (49% ABV).
Despite being bottled at a slightly higher proof, the Rio appears to be about the same light amber color. On the nose the honey and cinnamon-like Amburana mix so well that I almost forget to look for other notes from the bourbon. Going deeper into the glass with my nose, I picked up a little oak and some vanilla. On the surface, this one sounds like it would be sweeter, but I found it to be the opposite. The honey note is up front, but not overpoweringly sweet. It lingers a bit before the cinnamon spiciness of the Amburana finish kicks in. The problem here is that I really just got almost nothing of the underlying bourbon beyond the finishes.
That’s actually the biggest problem with both of these releases. They are undeniably good and I truly enjoyed them…but there wasn’t much “bourbon” flavor left after the finishing process was done. They both drink like dessert liqueurs more than a good sipping bourbon…I’m reminded a lot of Drambuie, one of my go-tos when I was about 21 years old. Of the two, I did enjoy Rio more and would probably be a buyer again for the right price. My wife likes Havana better, so if one of those came up for the right price, I would probably be smart to buy it. What’s the right price? About $80-90. If it goes much more than that I would give it a pass.
