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Penelope Rosé Cask Finish (Batch 8)

$49.99
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RATING

8

Bourbon Review: Penelope Rosé Cask Finish (Batch 8)

We review Penelope Rosé Cask Finish (Batch 8), a four-grain bourbon blend that's aged 4-5 years in new American oak and finished for four months in Grenache rosé wine casks from the Southern Rhône region of France.
  • Nino Kilgore-Marchetti, founder of The Whiskey Wash, is an award-winning whiskey journalist, expert, and judge
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Tasting Notes:

About:
A four-grain bourbon blend aged 4-5 years in new American oak and finished for four months in Grenache rosé wine casks from the Southern Rhône region of France. It is bottled at 94 proof and priced at $49.99.
Appearance:
The rosé wine casks show themselves in the color of the bourbon, presenting a slight rose hue to the typical amber color. Viscosity and legs are both of moderate quality.
Nose:
The nose on this is light and floral, with some jammy notes popping through also. Things to consider here include aromatics of intense vanilla, strawberries, a slight hint of oak, some toasted almond, a slight sniff of baked bread and bubble gum.
Palate:
This drink is smooth and easy, not aggressive like bourbon can sometimes be. It eases across the palate with a chill vanilla, those strawberries again, bubble gum, marzipan, more noticeable oak, a kiss of coriander, and a backbone of almonds.
Finish:
The finish is mild, keeping with the rest of the tasting experience. It doesn’t hold for long, but it doesn’t fade off badly.
Comments:
This whiskey does not super blow me away, but whatever. It is an easy buy, especially at the price point, if you’re looking for a good summer sipping bourbon. It is light and smooth enough, with a strawberry note throughout, that you’ll enjoy drinking down on a hot day. This would do well consumed in a chilled glass.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

Penelope Rosé Cask Finish review
We review Penelope Rosé Cask Finish (Batch 8), a four-grain bourbon blend that’s aged 4-5 years in new American oak and finished for four months in Grenache rosé wine casks from the Southern Rhône region of France. (image via Penelope Bourbon)

Editor’s Note: We received a review sample of this whiskey from the brand. However, in accordance with our editorial policies, this has not influenced the outcome of our review in any way.

Penelope Bourbon was founded in 2018 and named for founder Michael Paladini’s daughter, Penelope. The strength of this brand’s ability to have crafted over the years since then a series of sourced straight bourbon and rye whiskey expressions that are all uniquely blended and finished garnered the attention of Indiana-based spirits giant MGP, who acquired Penelope in mid-2023 for over $100 million.
Using MGP juice, Penelope’s core expressions of Four Grain, Barrel Strength, Architect, and Toasted Bourbon have received over 40 combined awards and industry accolades. In 2024, the brand won Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for Barrel Strength and Toasted, Double Platinum at the ASCOT Awards for Barrel Strength, Double Gold for Rio, and an Innovation Award for Toasted at the SIP Awards.

In addition to its cornerstone expressions, Penelope continues to introduce limited releases within its Cooper Series, Private Select, and Founders Reserve lines.

What’s in the bottle

The whiskey being reviewed here, Penelope Rosé Cask Finish (Batch 8), heralds from the limited edition Cooper Series. The bottling takes Penelope’s signature Four Grain straight bourbon whiskey and finishes it in hand-selected Grenache rosé wine casks from the Southern Rhône region of France for a while.

More specifically, what you have here is a blend of 3 bourbon mash bills comprised of four grains (Corn, Wheat, Rye, and Malted Barley) that ends up with a mash bill of 76% Corn, 14% Wheat, 7% Rye, and 3% Malted Barley that’s aged for 4-5 years. The rosé wine casks’ finishing period is four months before the end product is non-chill filtered and bottled at 94 proof.

“Rosé Cask Finish was our first-ever release in our Cooper Series and has always been well received by consumers,” said Paladini at the time this was released. “Batch 8 offers a wonderful combination of sweet and delicate flavor, perfect for the summer, at a new shelf price of $49.99. This highly anticipated release offers something truly special for bourbon and wine enthusiasts alike.”

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti is the founder of The Whiskey Wash, an award-winning whiskey lifestyle website dedicated to informing and entertaining consumers about whisk(e)y globally. As a whisk(e)y journalist, expert, and judge, he has written extensively about the subject, been interviewed in various media outlets, and provided tasting input on many whiskeys at competitions.

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