I Thought I'd Hate This Affordable Bourbon. Until I Actually Took a Sip

I never would have picked up a bottle of Penelope Bourbon Rosé Cask Finish in a liquor store. If I saw the bourbon, with its delicate pink label, I probably would have rolled my eyes and said it should be stocked next to Fireball (which I consider alcoholic cough syrup that doesn’t deserve to be called whiskey).

Maybe I'm biased. I don’t like rosé and never have. The pink wine floods bars and brunches every summer, a season I dislike. The minute the thermometer climbs above 70 degrees, al fresco diners with bottles of rosé nestled in buckets of ice clutter the New York sidewalks. The parks are packed with Instagrammable picnics, with spreads of fruit and cheese next to chilled rosé bottles that quickly warm under the sun. 

Summer heat aside, rosé was always too sweet or too dry for my taste anyway, and I have yet to successfully pair it with a food. Even my attempt at cooking Rosé risotto was a disappointment. And the popular frosé—frozen rosé—is basically a snow cone.

Then, a bottle of Rosé Cask Finish arrived in the mail. I recently signed up for Flaviar's whiskey subscription to further my knowledge of spirits. Every three months, a new bottle arrived at my doorstep. I'd received delicious scores before, but this bourbon looked like something I would've sipped in my twenties, when my idea of a cocktail was a 7 and 7.

I wasn’t exactly enthused. My five o’clock drink is preferably Knob Creek or High West on the rocks. Rosé bourbon, in contrast, sounded much too sweet. I wished I'd received a different Penelope release, because I'd never tried any of the Indiana-based distillery’s collections yet. 

Rosé Finish is part of Penelope’s Cooper Series, along with Rio, which features a double cask finish of American honey and Brazilian oak, and Valencia, finished in vino de naranja casks and bottled at 97 proof. Havana, the fourth, will be released soon. The brand's core series includes its classic Penelope Four Grain Bourbon along with the Architect blend, which uses French oak finishing staves, and other tastier-sounding options than the bottle in front of me.

I reluctantly cracked Penelope Rosé open, bracing myself for a disappointingly sweet, mellow drink. But happily—surprisingly—I was proven wrong. Penelope’s signature bourbon is a blend of three mash bills consisting of four grains (corn, wheat, rye, and malted barley), and the Rosé Finish, which was aged in new American oak for four to five years before its grenache cask finish, still had a kick to it.

It wasn't as spicy as my usual pours, but it wasn’t nearly as sweet as I had feared. The initial aroma gave off notes of caramel and cinnamon, with hints of vanilla. The cinnamon was present in my first sips, along with the vanilla and hints of fruits—no doubt thanks to the rosé cask.

With a blend of 75 percent corn, 15 percent wheat, 7 percent rye, and 3 percent malted barley, I wouldn’t necessarily agree with advertising that describes it as “delicate.” But it’s definitely easier to enjoy neat than Michter’s or Rittenhouse. The bourbon makes for easy sipping, either neat or on the rocks, but at 47 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), it still packs a punch. Thankfully, for a unique bottling, it's still affordable, retailing for about $50. I enjoyed it the most in a chilled glass, without ice, so I could savor it fully while still feeling refreshed.

I admit it. I'd embrace this modified version of rosé (or is it modified bourbon?) any day—but I still prefer my happy hours inside with the AC flowing.

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