The strategy behind building a budding whiskey company can feel a lot like a round of golf: Strategy, a keen sense of touch, knowing when to lay up, knowing when to take a big swing aimed right at the pin.
Penelope Bourbon, not quite a decade old, has certainly taken some big swings in its 8-year history, and now nods to its own roots on the links with the Penelope Bourbon Architects of Golf Collection.
Lovers of the game and bourbon enthusiasts alike can now find the first trio of what will eventually become an 18-bottle series that nods to its co-founders, Michael Paladini and Danny Polise. The duo dreamed up the seeds of what could become an award-winning whiskey company over a game of golf (Penelope calls it “whiskey worth the round,”) and the sentiment certainly has a good amount of swing power behind it
If it sounds too good to be true, believe me, it’s not. And the Penelope Bourbon story seems to echo the ambition and the triumph of sinking a long, long birdie putt.
In scarcely a decade in business, the company (which distills its bourbon through Indiana’s Ross & Squibb Distillery, formerly known as MGP, as well as Bardstown Bourbon Company) and its founding duo have executed a series of deft, daring releases bearing the hallmarks of both a short-game pro and a big-swinging, long drive champ.
The company has racked up more than 50 spirits awards in recent years (and counting), one area in which a higher number at the end of a round assuredly pays off.
From an 18-year American Light Whiskey (bottled at a blazing 140.2 proof) to utterly memorable, cask-finished releases like Havana (finished in both maple syrup and rum barrels), Penelope Bourbon seems to know when to lay up and when to punch one out of the trees on a dogleg.
Photo via Penelope Bourbon
The real key in terms of innovation, not unlike daring to go bold by taking a bigger club out of one’s bag, is the use of American oak staves to impart deeper flavor and character.
Delivered in Penelope’s characteristically elegant bottle, a vivid green label pops while calling to mind both the color of a well-kept fairway and a certain championship jacket from (arguably) golf’s most famous tournament. Take one glance, and you might be able to guess which one.
“Golf and bourbon are similar in that they both bring people together. Penelope started as an idea on a golf course, so we felt it was only natural to expand our Architect line into this area,”said Michael Paladini, Penelope Bourbon’s founder and vice president of strategy.“Architects of Golf is a nod to the subtleties of the game and where some of our best ideas took shape. The introduction of American Oak Staves into our blends reflects how small adjustments can have a big impact on the overall product.”
Paladini assuredly reached for his driver, so to speak, when naming the budding whiskey brand after his newborn daughter, Penelope.
In teaming up with Polise, his neighbor and childhood friend, the company notes the twosome “wanted to create a spirit that embodied the daily joy of celebrating life’s pleasures – big and small.” Mark that one down as a hole-in-one on the whiskey scorecard, as it were.
Photo via Penelope Bourbon
Billed as Hole 1, Hole 2 and Hole 3, the trio kicks things off in ambitious fashion, with whiskey-centric aroma and flavor notes both familiar to old pros and agreeable to newfound fans of the whiskey (or golf) game.
The key to finishing a round (or a barrel of whiskey) on the right note? In this instance, it’s the use of finishing techniques to shift a collection of bourbon in distinctive ways, the company notes.
Butterscotch, baking spices, and nutmeg mark the aroma of the Hole 1 offering, for instance, complete with sweet oak and dark chocolate leading into a lingering finish as part of a 6-year, 94-proof bourbon that could prove adept in a 19th-hole cocktail (and the company is creating custom cocktail recipes as part of the collection).
The Architects of Golf Hole 2 Collection also touches on baking spice on the nose while introducing sweet fruit, while pleasing hints of vanilla and even French toast (yes, French toast) greet the palate.
Hole 2 also clocks in at 94 proof and 6 years of age, and Penelope Bourbon’s Architects of Golf Hole 3 bottling is characterized by the award-winning company as the “boldest expression” of the trio, boasting the same proof and mashbill (60 percent corn, 36 percent rye and 4 percent malted barley) as its proverbial playing partners. The difference, indeed, is in the details.
The collection’s presence is certainly delivered right off the opening tee, with the company noting it plans to expand the collection over time.
“Each hole represents a distinct batch,” said Danny Polise, Founder and Master Blender at Penelope Bourbon. “They are designed to explore the nuances of different stave profiles and how they evolve the whiskey. It made developing the collection as fun as playing the game.”
And if both fun on the course and back at home, poring over your bar cart, is your idea of a great outing, then keep an eye out for the Classic Club Sports Sweepstakes launched by Penelope Bourbon, which serves up the chance to win one of nine distinct trips to top-notch golf or tennis tournaments nationwide.
To shake up your round at the turn (or before, or after), Penelope Bourbon is also debuting golf-inspired seasonal cocktails like “The Southern Fairway.” Keep an eye out, and make sure your ball stays out of the rough.
For now, the opportunity beckons to book your next tee time and to score a bottle (or two, or all three) from the Penelope Bourbon Architects of Golf Collection at select retailers nationwide for an SRP of $59.99 apiece.
