Penelope Bourbon

Penelope Bourbon is a Louisville, Kentucky craft bourbon brand founded in 2018, producing four-grain mashbill expressions (corn, wheat, rye, malted barley) known for the Toasted Series barrel finish program and limited barrel strength releases. Core expressions include Four Grain Straight Bourbon, Barrel Strength, Toasted Series, and the aged Architect blend.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a four-grain mashbill and how does it affect Penelope’s flavor?

Most American bourbons use a three-grain mashbill — corn as the primary grain (minimum 51% for bourbon), plus a secondary flavor grain (rye or wheat) and malted barley for fermentation enzymes. Penelope uses all four: corn, wheat, rye, and malted barley in meaningful proportions rather than using malted barley purely as a processing aid. Adding wheat alongside rye produces a mashbill that has both the soft, honeyed sweetness that wheat contributes and the spicy, peppery character that rye contributes — a more complex grain base than either a purely wheated or purely rye-forward bourbon. The four-grain approach is part of why Penelope expressions tend toward balanced, multi-layered profiles rather than the single-dominant-character that defines most mainstream bourbon mashbills.

What does the Toasted Series barrel finish actually do to the bourbon?

Standard bourbon barrels are charred — the interior wood surface is briefly set on fire, creating a carbon char layer. The char acts as a filter and draws out certain compounds while adding the smoky, vanilla, and caramel characteristics associated with bourbon aging. Toasted barrels skip the flaming char and instead apply slow, sustained heat to the wood, which caramelizes the wood sugars without creating the carbon layer. The result is different flavor extraction: more vanilla richness, baking spice, caramel, and coconut from the caramelized sugars, without the smoky or ashy notes that charring contributes. Penelope’s Toasted Series finishes the base four-grain bourbon in these secondary toasted barrels, layering those compounds on top of the existing bourbon character.