Penelope Havana Double-Finished Bourbon Review

 

Two childhood friends, Mike Paladini and Daniel Polise, along with Mike's wife, Kerry, went into business together and created their own brand of Bourbon. Mike and Kerry were expecting a child and knew they wanted to name their daughter Penelope. That inspired them to name their brand Penelope Bourbon.

 

Penelope Bourbon earns kudos from me with its comprehensive transparency. From the start, Penelope made no secret that MGP was the distiller. It partners with Speyside Cooperage to source casks for its various oak finishes. Penelope’s whiskeys were initially blended and bottled at Castle & Key Distillery. However, those operations had moved to Bardstown Bourbon Company. Then, in May of 2022, the brand was purchased by Luxco, MGP’s consumer-facing subsidiary.

 

Penelope’s newest cask-finished Bourbon is called Havana. It is the brand’s signature Four Grain Straight Bourbon, distilled from a mash of 74% corn, 7% rye, 16% wheat, and 3% malted barley. Penelope allowed it to age four years in new, charred oak barrels, then transferred the contents to Caribbean rum casks, where it spent another year.

 

But wait. There’s more! If you order right now, Penelope will include another one-month finish in maple syrup barrels that previously held Four Grain Straight Bourbon.

 

“This is so much more than a rum-finished Bourbon – it’s a standout in our collection of cask-finished Bourbons. The maple finish is the perfect compliment to the initial rum-finished Bourbon by further elevating the blend and creating balance between savory, sweet and oak spice.” – Daniel Polise

 

Packaged in 750ml bottles at 46.5% ABV (93°), it carries a suggested price of $79.99. There are 27,000 bottles distributed around the country. Make that 26,999 because Penelope Bourbon was kind enough to send me one of those bottles in exchange for my no-strings-attached, honest review. I am grateful for this opportunity to #DrinkCurious.

 

Appearance: I sipped this Bourbon neat from a Glencairn glass. Its color was that of caramel. A medium rim released thin, tightly packed, sticky tears.

 

Nose: I allowed the whiskey to rest in the glass for about 15 minutes before exposing it to my olfactory sense. Smells of caramel, maple syrup, brown sugar, bananas, and a dusting of cinnamon teased my nostrils. When I inhaled the vapor into my mouth, I encountered molasses.

 

Palate: Wow! The dense, creamy texture surprised me; it was one of the most dense I’ve run across in a few years. The front of my palate pulled leather, maple, and bananas. I found molasses, corn, and vanilla as it hit my mid-palate. I tasted oak, dried tobacco leaf, and brown sugar.

 

Finish: Flavors of brown sugar, lightly toasted oak, tobacco, maple, leather, and molasses dominated the finish. There was also a quick burst of clove. Brown sugar stuck around the longest. There was a slight numbing on the roof of my mouth. I timed the duration at 3:03, making it exceedingly long.

 

Bottle, Bar, or Bust: I’ve had many rum-finished Bourbons, Scotches, Irish Whiskeys, and American Ryes, as well as a handful of maple syrup-finished selections, all of which were American. Havana shared some of those sweeter similarities, but there was a spiciness that none possessed.

 

On the surface, Havana seems a bit pricey. After all, this is a four-year-plus finished Bourbon. Last week, I reviewed Penelope Estate Single Barrel Bourbon, a decade old, for only $10.00 more. Yet, that wasn’t double-finished or nearly as unique as Havana.

 

Unusual whiskeys are attention-getters for me. I love whiskeys that aren’t me-too copycats; I’m more forgiving about the price of those, and Havana definitely fits the bill. I really enjoyed this; I believe you will, too, and as such, it takes my Bottle rating. Cheers!  

 

My Simple, Easy-to-Understand Rating System

• Bottle = Buy It
• Bar = Try It
• Bust = Leave It

 

Whiskeyfellow encourages you to enjoy your whiskey as you see fit but begs you to do so responsibly.