Penelope Valencia

⚑ Placeholder review — tasting notes to be updated after the pour.

The Story

Penelope has always been willing to experiment with what goes into and around their barrels, and Valencia is one of the more compelling results of that mindset. The base is their blended straight bourbon — a composite mashbill of 74% corn, 16% wheat, 7% rye, and 3% malted barley — finished for up to a year in Vino de Naranja wine casks sourced from Seville, Spain. Vino de Naranja is a fortified orange wine, and the choice isn't accidental: it's an effort to translate an entire flavor concept into a bottle. The name, the origin, the cask selection — it all points in the same direction. Whether the whiskey follows through is the question.

At 95 proof and non-chill filtered, this isn't a whisper of a finish release. Penelope gave the casks enough time to leave a real impression, and the mashbill's wheat-forward character — soft and round by nature — turns out to be a solid canvas for the citrus and wine influence. It's a smarter pairing than it might look on paper.

Nose, Palate & Finish

The Verdict