Penelope Architect Build No. 2
Penelope Architect TL;DR
Today we will revisit another Penelope release, this time the Architect Build No. 2. The only other Penelope product that I have tasted was the Four Grain Barrel Strength Bourbon from the Toasted Series (review here) and I was a bit underwhelmed. It wasn’t bad bourbon by any means, but I wasn’t very excited about it and thought that the $70 price tag was a bit much for what you are getting. While I was disappointed, I was intrigued by the range of their releases and by some of the responses that I received from my review, suggesting other releases to try. I gotta say, Penelope seems to have a passionate following.
Fast forward a few months and one of my local stores finally had some of the Penelope Architect Bourbon so I picked up a bottle and put it in the review queue. As you can see from the video and pictures, the photoshoot for this bottle took place in the midst of autumn, but a friend brought a bottle of the Architect to our little family-friendly New Years Eve party last week and after having a sip (or well, quite a few sips) I thought it was time to crack open my own bottle.
Let’s dig into what’s inside the bottle. Penelope sources its juice from MGP. For the Architect, they blend 3 bourbon four-grain mash bills (so the typical Corn, Rye, and Malted Barley but with Wheat as well). Their website lists the mash bill as 75% Corn, 15% Wheat, 7% Rye, and 3% Malted Barley, but given their stated 3 four-grain mash bills, I have to assume that this mash bill breakdown by percentages represents the effective mash bill post blend (Nice Sipper Note: If anyone has clearer insights into this, please feel free to send me a note and I will update accordingly). The blend is composed of bourbon, aged between 4 years and 5.5 years, and is finished in French Oak Staves. Apparently, I’m a bit of a french oak fanboy as a quick look-back on my previous reviews shows a high correlation between french oak aging (across whiskey categories) and high review scores. As I have said in other reviews, I think French Oak (and other European Oaks) complements American Oak quite well both as a source of aging and finishing as ze French Oak provides more savory spices and chocolate notes when compared to its American cousin, which is full of vanilla, cinnamon, and coconut. When choosing the french oak staves that will be used to finish the Architect, Penelope works in collaboration with Tonnellerie Radoux of France and its OakScanⓇ process. According to Radoux, the OakScanⓇ is a system that provides rapid analysis, based on Near Infrared Spectrometry, to indicate the tannic potential of the wood, allowing cooper to pick staves to create a specific profile. Near Infrared Spectrometry. Tannic potential. Polyphenolic Indices. This review is turning into science class, and admittedly, I am not a scientist, but I have gone down quite a few rabbit holes on this subject, so here’s the down and dirty of it. Oak is made up of tannins, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and oak lactones, among other things, of course. Toasting or charring the oak starts chemical reactions to various components of the oak from caramelizing sugars to releasing vanillins, softening harsh tannins or creating various flavors. I have not had contact with Radoux or Penelope on this topic, but I suppose with enough data (Radoux claims 10 years and 10 million analyses on the chemical composition of French Oak) they could identify which staves will likely create which flavors under certain heat treatments. That’s pretty cool.
Ok, time for the tasting.
ABV: 52%
How it smells…vanilla, faint baking spices, a little oak, caramel, sugary. Overall, not very fragrant, but pleasant…..adding a dab of water makes the aromas come alive.
How it tastes…mild to start followed by some berries and cherries. The end becomes more spicy with cinnamon and ginger along with cloves. The finish is long and full of vanilla and a bit drying….with a dab of water, the middle has more cinnamon and caramel with the end becoming more peppery spicy versus baking spices spicy. There is a slight bitter maltiness at the end as well, but in a good way, not astringent at all.
Price...$65
Rating...🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃
Red & Yellow Maple Leaf with Penelope
Final thoughts…To sum it up, I really liked this sip. After imbibing a couple of drams of the Architect on New Years Eve, I was highly motivated to do this review. As usual, I try to either wait to do my research on the bottle until after I do the tasting or forget what I already know about the bottle so as to not influence my expectations. That said, I really enjoyed the tasting and the post-tasting exploration of this bottle, Penelope, and a very lengthy exploration on Radoux and its OakScanⓇ process. Straight up, it’s not overly fragrant but it has a lot of nice aromas that you would expect to find in a bourbon. With a bit of water though, the aromas become more pronounced and identifiable. On the tasting side, this is a very smooth sip from start to finish. Some sips of bourbon come right out of the gate and punch you right in the face (figuratively speaking, of course) with an explosion of flavor. This Architect does not do that. Instead, it builds throughout the sip, crescendoing on the finish with some big strong vanilla flavor. My notes actually say “vanilla breath”. The back and forth of this sip was the most enjoyable part. It’s sweet, then it’s spicy. It’s mellow, then it’s bold. It’s ever-changing. When you add a bit of water, the spiciness changes and it gets more peppery but you also get more caramel notes instead of the fruity notes, yet another example of the intricacies of this sip. Just don’t add too much water, while it’s bottled at a nice proof point, it’s not a bottle strength release so too much water may mute the flavors instead of opening them up.
For $60-$65, this is a solid purchase so I’m giving it a 5x 🥃 rating given the enjoyable sipping experience and the solid proof point. I guess my only problem with this bottle is that it is part of a series so now I have to watch out for and buy every new “build” that hits the shelves. But if they are all as good as this one, this is a good problem to have. I will have to continue exploring the rest of the Penelope releases to see what other gems they create.
Recommendation: Buy
Nice Sipper Ratings Reminder…
All ratings are done on a scale between 1x 🥃 and 5x 🥃 according to the following criteria
1x 🥃 = I don't like this at all and/or not worth the cost by a mile.
2x 🥃🥃 = This is "meh" and/or slightly overpriced.
3x 🥃🥃🥃 = This is good stuff and/or the price is right.
4x 🥃🥃🥃🥃 = This is wonderful and I'm always keeping it in stock especially at this price.
5x 🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃 = This is amazing and/or this is way underpriced for the quality of the experience.
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