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By now, most people have heard of the brand Penelope. They got their start blending various young MGP bourbons together to create something that was better than its individual parts. The founders made it accessible and relatively inexpensive which was the perfect combination to get people to try it.
The name “Penelope” and bottle design aesthetic (more cutesy than classic) might not have spoken to the most hardcore bourbon enthusiasts, but it did attract enough newcomers that it allowed the brand to keep growing. I think a thing we enthusiasts forget about is that any brand will go bankrupt if it only caters to elite drinkers and collectors. In order for any whiskey producer to thrive they have to sell in volume – and that’s exactly why Penelope continued to grow. Their popularity and growth was noticed by MGP (the source of their barrels) who made them a buyout offer they couldn’t refuse. The deal was made official in May 2023.
Penelope expands their lineup to include a bevy of finished whiskies
One of the earliest cask finishes that Penelope dabbled in involved finishing a blend of bourbon in Rose wine casks. This unique finishing cask hadn’t been utilized before by any other producer. Frankly, I didn’t even know Rose was matured in a cask (FYI: it’s generally not with very few exceptions).
Penelope continued experimenting with more finishing barrel projects using Tokaji wine barrels, newly toasted/charred barrels (Penelope Toasted), Vino de Naranja casks (Penelope Valencia) and honey & Amburana barrels (Penelope Rio). Their most recent experiment sees a proprietary 4 grain bourbon (MGP ryed and wheated bourbon mash bills) finished in rum casks for 12 months before being dumped into maple syrup casks for another month. The result is Penelope Havana.
This eye-catching label wears no age statement and is bottled at 93 proof. The goal with this release was to put all the flavors in a bottle that would remind you of a warm day in the Caribbean sun. I get why they chose rum casks to finish it in, but I’m not exactly sure that maple is a profile that speaks “tropical paradise” to me. But hey, I’ve been convinced of weirder things before.
What did I think about this release? Let’s find out. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Scents of maple candies hit my nostrils first. There is also plenty of maple syrup and table syrup. This is all followed by notes of sticky candy melting in the sun. I feel like I’m starting to develop cavities just by smelling it. The nose isn’t totally drenched in sugar, though. I also find a bit of oak (surprising!) and a hint of fruit wrapped in phyllo dough – so like a turnover I guess. The phyllo dough must be the result of the wheated bourbon in the blend if I had to guess.
Palate: The maple cask influence overwhelms everything else. It’s only through the sheer power of concentration am I able to look past it to find other flavors. The rum notes (kind of funky, kind of rotting fruity) are lighter than I was hoping for. I can’t really taste the bourbon throughout all of the sweet notes. There might be a ping of peppery spice here or a passing glance of cinnamon there, but this tastes like a flavored whiskey to me more than anything else.
Finish: Still just as sweet as the palate. The maple and fruit syrup flavors dominate. I’m not finding much in the way of tannins, baking spices or vanilla. I’ll also add that when I open my mouth upon completion of the sip that my lips are literally sticking together. I’ve never had that happen with a whiskey before.
Score: 3.9/10
To me, this is an abomination. The taste is so sickly sweet and one-dimensional that I struggled to finish my pour. Worse still is the fact they used perfectly good bourbon to make this. Since it all got covered up anyway, why not use something cheaper like Light Whiskey or Corn Whiskey?
I will concede that there is probably a larger audience that doesn’t care what this started out as. Plenty of new bourbon drinkers are after the sweetest profiles as they acclimate themselves to the full spectrum of flavors that bourbon contains. I think this is a bottle that drinkers who previously tried and liked Amburana finishes would enjoy. With that being said, Penelope Havana has its place, but that place isn’t in my whiskey collection.
I’m sure I’m being overly critical, but this is a pass for me. I think that improvements could be made to it by either using finishing barrels made of maple wood rather than barrels that held maple syrup (which would result in a more subtle flavor) or maybe finishing it for a week instead of a month. The rum finish felt like it struggled to reveal itself. I wanted more of it for balance.
Final Thoughts
Experimental, finished whiskies are usually a “love it or hate it” experience. The flavors will undoubtedly find fans that love it while also pushing away those that don’t. I generally consider myself a fan of finished whiskies but could not get behind this one. I need my bourbon to taste like bourbon underneath it all and this one couldn’t do that.
Whether or not we ever see a “Batch 2” of Havana remains to be seen, but I hope that Penelope’s next experiment is a little more toned down. I guess I’m more of a “less is more” kind of guy but maybe that’s not true with Penelope. I hope the next edition of their Cooper Series can redeem itself.
