There isn’t much information about there about Penelope’s Project X, maybe because they produce so few bottles…essentially, each version is a single barrel experiment. I hadn’t intended to buy this bottle because, well…it’s a rye and ryes aren’t very high on my “enjoyment meter.” I forgot that it was a rye, though, and during a whiskey sharing event, I poured some and was shocked at how good it was. I gave some to my wife and she loved it, too. That’s when someone reminded us, “Hey, that’s a rye whiskey!” The shop owner had a single bottle left, so I put dibs on it and walked out with it at the end of the night.
According to “the Googles” a maple brûlée cask is often made from ex-bourbon barrels that have been used to age maple syrup, then their interior is re-charred and carmelized to create deep notes of toasted sugar and maple. The result is an almost “dessert whiskey” profile when you finish whiskies in it.
For this release, Penelope used a 114 proof rye whiskey, which was finished in the maple brûlée cask before being bottled. The color in the glass was a deep amber with plenty of reddish color and it had cereal grain and brown sugar notes on the nose. On the sip, the whiskey starts off much sweeter than a rye whiskey has any right to be. I mean seriously sweet…tons of brown sugar and caramel notes, some vanilla and cherry. The rye spice comes in mid-sip and lasts through the finish, making the whole thing just kinda fantastic. I’m sorry this is a one-and-done bottle because I could see buying this on a regular basis, but at least my research also showed that other distilleries like Hard Truth and Nulu use the same type of barrels for some products, so now I’ll know to pick one of those up when I see it.
