I would never buy a bottle of Penelope Bourbon Rosé Cask Finish at a liquor store. If I saw the bourbon with its delicate pink label, I would probably roll my eyes and tell it to be stocked next to Fireball (which I consider an alcoholic cough syrup that doesn’t deserve to be called whiskey).
Maybe I’m biased. I don’t like rosé and never have. Rosé fills the bars and brunches every summer, a season I don’t like. As soon as the thermometer climbs above 70 degrees, New York City sidewalks are filled with diners dining al fresco with bottles of rosé nestled in ice buckets. Parks are filled with Instagrammable picnics with slices of fruit and cheese next to chilled bottles of rosé that are quickly warming in the sun.
Summer heat aside, rosé has always been too sweet or too dry for my taste, and I've yet to successfully pair it with a food. Even my attempt at rosé risotto was disappointing. 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 expand my knowledge of the drink. A new bottle arrives on my doorstep every three months. I’ve had delicious ratings before, but this bourbon sounds like something I would sip in my twenties, when my idea of a cocktail was 7 and 7.
I wasn’t exactly thrilled. My five-o’clock tipple is preferably Knob Creek or High West on the rocks. The rosé bourbon, by contrast, felt too sweet. I wished I had gotten a different version of Penelope, because I had never tried any of the Indiana-based distillery’s collections before.
The Rosé Finish is part of Penelope’s Cooper Series, with the Rio featuring a double barrel finish of American honey and Brazilian oak, and the Valencia finished in vino de naranja barrels and bottled at 97 proof. A fourth, Havana, is coming soon. The brand’s core lineup includes the classic Penelope Four Grain Bourbon, the Architect blend, which uses French oak finishes, and other options that sound more flavorful than the bottle in front of me.
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I reluctantly opened the Penelope Rosé and braced myself for a disappointingly sweet, bland drink. But happily—surprisingly—I was proven wrong. Penelope's signature whiskey is a blend of three mash bills of four grains (corn, wheat, rye, and malted barley) and a Rosé Finish that's matured in new American oak for four to five years before a grenache barrel finish still kicks in.
It wasn't as spicy as my usual brews, but it wasn't as sweet as I feared. The initial aroma exuded notes of caramel and cinnamon, with hints of vanilla. The cinnamon was present on my first sips, along with hints of vanilla and fruit—no doubt thanks to the rosé barrel.
With a blend of 75% corn, 15% wheat, 7% rye, and 3% malted barley, I disagree with the ads that describe this as “delicate.” But it’s definitely easier to drink neat than Michter’s or Rittenhouse. The bourbon can be sipped neat or on the rocks, but it still packs a punch at 47% alcohol by volume (ABV). Luckily, it’s still affordable for a unique bottling, selling for around $50. I drank it most often in a chilled glass, without ice, so I could enjoy it while still feeling refreshed.
I admit it. I’d embrace this modified rosé version (or is it modified bourbon?) any day—but I still prefer to spend my happy hour indoors, with the air conditioning on.
Related: We Tasted Hundreds of Bourbons. These Are the Best of 2024
