Background

Every time I see this bottle Duran Duran's "Rio" just auto plays in my mind. I can't help it. It’s on an endless, earworm loop as I write this review even. Oh, Rio, Rio dance across the Rio Grande…

Anyways! Penelope Rio hails from Penelope’s “Cooper Series” which is named after the Founders Son. It’s presumably been a pretty awesome year for Cooper, since I imagine he now stands to inherit a sizeable chunk of MGP change and this release from his eponymous series has gone absolutely gang busters. While MSRP is about ~$90, you can currently find this going for around $250 secondary. Combine two popular finishes into, at least in my opinion, an awesome name/color scheme/bottle design and you have a recipe for the hype train to get rolling. Worth immediately disclaiming, I’ve heard from now two reputable liquor stores that Penelope is stressing that they have batch two in the works and it will be a significantly larger batch.

Personally, my experiences with both Amburana and honey finishes to date have been a touch hit or miss, particularly Amburana. That said, it definitely sounds like quite an in depth process to arrive at this whiskey and I really applaud Penelope for attempting something so creative. To make their Four Grain mashbill, they blend three MGP bourbon mashbills to end up at 75% corn, 15% wheat, 7% rye, and 3% malted barley. The whiskey in this batch is aged 4-6 years (I imagine that’s inclusive of finishing time but it’s not super clear), first getting finished in honey barrels and then new Amburana barrels for a total finishing time of about 2 years. Let’s see how it tastes!

Penelope Rio (4 Years, 98 Proof)

Nose: Cinnamon buns and then, I know this is OBNOXIOUSLY specific, a heavy amount of cream cheese frosting. This is awakening a very visceral scent memory for me.

Palate: This is a note I've leaned on before, but flavored honey sticks. In this case I bet you can't guess the flavor given it's Amburana... Cinnamon honey sticks. Bit-o-honey candy, clove honey. Honey and cinnamon, cinnamon and honey… you get it. More honey than cinnamon though, for sure. Like 80/20 honey to cinnamon.

Finish: Have you ever had a cold and then put some honey in hot water? That. It really falls off quickly on the finish, leaving just a light honey note.

Good to Very Good (5.5/10)

Overall: This is a one and a half trick pony for me. It's a fairly fun trick, but I can't imagine drinking a whole bottle of this much less wading into the wildly out of control secondary price. I honestly don't think I even prefer it to the Shortbarrel The Bees Knees II (which I think is helped by its high proof). The nose is excellent, however, the palate and finish just leave me wanting.