Table Of Contents

The Details

Rating 95
Style
Whiskey
Produced In Indiana
United States
ABV 53.8%
Availability Limited
Price $199.00 
Reviewed By
Reviewed 2025-02-25

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Straight Wheat Whiskey Review

Founded in 2018, Penelope Bourbon quickly became one of America’s fastest-growing whiskey companies, gaining near-nationwide distribution in just a few short years. The New Jersey-based operation sourced the lion’s share of its product from MGP’s Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and built its reputation on both quality blends and accessible pricing.

Penelope’s growth soon proved too great for its biggest partner to ignore. In the first half of 2023, MGP acquired Penelope, keeping on founders Michael Paladini and Danny Polise to continue driving brand growth.

Post-acquisition, Penelope expanded its offerings, including numerous expressions at more premium price points. In late 2024, the brand placed those high-end offerings under a new banner: The Penelope Estate Collection, which includes Founders Reserve, Private Select, and Single Barrel bottlings.

Today, we’re looking at the first expression in the Founders Reserve lineup, which according to the brand “showcases rare and unique barrels Mike and Danny were fortunate to find.” The bottling in question is an 11-year straight wheat whiskey, distilled by MGP in 2023. (Penelope has since released a 17-year Light Whiskey under the Founders Reserve label.)

Paladini and Polise acquired 24 barrels of this experimental wheat whiskey in 2019, and they closely monitored the aging progression over the course of five years. The whiskey is made from a mash bill of 95 percent wheat and 5 percent malted barley. It was initially distilled to 135 proof and barreled at 120.

The 24 barrels were spread across five lots, each with unique barrel characteristics. Penelope ultimately decided to batch each of the five lots individually and at cask strength.

  • Lot B: 118.4 proof, heavy toast on staves, #2 char on heads
  • Lot C: 116.6 proof, heavy toast before char, #1 char on staves, #2 char on heads
  • Lot D: 109.5 proof, #2 char on staves and heads
  • Lot E: 107.6 proof, #3 char on staves, #2 char on heads
  • Lot F: 108.2 proof, #4 char on staves, #2 char on heads

Notably, that means the whiskey in these lots dropped in proof during aging, ranging from under two proof points to over 12 proof points lost.

The bottle we’re reviewing today came from Lot E (107.6 proof), which contained 947 bottles in total.

Let’s see how it tastes!

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Straight Wheat Whiskey review.

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey: Stats and Availability

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey was initially released in late 2024 at Lux Row Distillers in Bardstown, Ky. That might seem like a surprising retail spot, but it actually makes sense at a corporate level. Both Penelope (a 2023 acquisition) and Lux Row parent Luxco (a 2021 merger) live within the MGP portfolio. And unlike MGP’s Ross & Squibb Distillery in Indiana, Lux Row’s Bardstown facility is open to the public and features tours and a full service visitor experience. It’s simply a much more convenient location for product launches, located right on Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail.

A number of these Founders Reserve bottles also went to select e-commerce partners. At Lux Row and in initial online sales, they carried an SRP of $199. While Penelope didn’t release official stats on each batch, the total release size across lots is estimated to be under 5,000 bottles. Anecdotally, I’ve already seen bottles pop up among resellers for several times MSRP.

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey Review

As with all of VinePair’s whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.

Nose

The nose starts off with a huge waft of bold, dark red fruit, which coalesces into a rich medley of cherry scents: cherry candy, Luxardo cherries, cherry cough syrup, and finally warm cherry pie, the top encrusted with nearly caramelized sugar. Other fruits linger along the periphery — red grapes, candied pears, stewed plums — but this is undeniably a cherry bomb of rare magnitude. There are certain cask wheated bourbons that exhibit similar rich fruit elements; some batches of Buffalo Trace’s William Larue Weller come to mind. But what Penelope has bottled here dials that up a notch (or three).

To be clear, there are other scents pronounced enough to make an impact. An undercurrent of spice and dried citrus evokes clove-studded oranges. A tiny thread of passionfruit hangs on even below that. Vanilla shortbread adds a confectionary component that, despite its sweetness, manages to balance out the fruit. The nose is hardly a one-trick pony, though it takes a little patience to get beyond the powerful (though admittedly captivating) earliest notes.

Bottled at 107.6 proof, this wheat whiskey punches even above that on the nose, not so much via overpowering ethanol but rather the intensity of individual aromas. There’s a lot going on, and it’s practically all worth your time. I spent nearly a half hour with my nose in the glass before I finished jotting notes.

Taste

Production-wise, in the United States, wheat whiskey is a drop in the bucket compared to bourbon and rye. Still, many experienced whiskey fans know it’s a distillate that can lean quite sweet with age. And Penelope has certainly batched a sweet dram here, with early, fruity flavors like watermelon candy, raspberry glaze, and syrupy strawberry shortcake.

As with the nose, those once again merge into a variety of cherry flavors, in this instance more brandied cherry. In fact, once you get beyond the initial pop of flavor, the whiskey tastes a bit like a garnished Manhattan. It’s as if a few drops of the cherry’s syrup intermingled with flavors from sweet vermouth, hitting the taste buds a millisecond before the ethanol.

I’m almost surprised by fruit’s recession along the midpalate, which makes room for both milk chocolate and oak; lightly cured tobacco and clove oil fold in alongside. This lightly astringent, tannic turn counteracts the initial sweetness and lends some composition to the palate overall. There’s effectively a handoff from cherry to barrel stave, and while sweetness doesn’t dissipate entirely, it morphs from fruit candy into black tea with a dash of honey.

Finish

Black tea, baking spice, and chocolate round out a long finish. Paprika accumulates at the back of the palate, with a muted spice that pairs well with the chocolate. Oak and cocoa powder are the final flavors to linger for more than a minute after a final sip.

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey Rating

95/100

Recap

Penelope Founders Reserve is focused on the rare and unique. This exceptional wheat whiskey checks those boxes and more, providing a captivating experience from the nose through to the finish. I won’t claim it’s the most balanced sip I’ve tasted from the brand, and it’s a whiskey that almost challenges drinkers to unlock its numerous twists and turns. But I found the effort very worthwhile, culminating in one of the best MGP/Ross & Squibb-distilled products I’ve had in some time.

The 24 barrels in this release started as an experiment, and I’m glad this one finally saw the light of day in its true form — especially if an alternative meant being relegated to a minor blend component. If anything, this 11 year wheat whiskey makes me excited for what else the Penelope team might uncover from Ross & Squibb’s deep barrel stocks. Fingers crossed there are more hidden gems.

As of 2024, VinePair no longer participates in any affiliate programs. All links included in our content are as a convenience to our readers, not for earning commission — we receive no monetary value from them. Learn more about our tastings & review department here!

Related Reads

Related Whiskey Reviews

Westland Garryana 9th Edition (2024)

Westland Garryana 9th Edition (2024):
Washington State’s Westland Distillery is one of several American single malt producers edging into blue chip territory. It has a long ...

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch A125

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch A125:
Heaven Hill’s Elijah Craig Barrel Proof bourbon is usually one of the calendar year’s first limited American whiskey releases. The ...

Frey Ranch Single Barrel 100 Percent Wheat Whiskey

Frey Ranch Single Barrel 100 Percent Wheat Whiskey:
Nevada’s Frey Ranch Distillery is a true “grain to glass” operation. In addition to growing its own grains, the operation also ...

Westward Whiskey Bottled-in-Bond Single Malt 2024

Westward Whiskey Bottled-in-Bond Single Malt 2024:
When I last reviewed a Westward Whiskey product, it was the 2023 Milestone release, an 86 proof, non-age-stated, $250 bottle that stood out ...

Featured Whiskey Articles

Artificial Accounts and Bogus Bottles: Social Media Has a Problem With Whiskey Scammers

Artificial Accounts and Bogus Bottles: Social Media Has a Problem With Whiskey Scammers:
Whiskey scammers have gotten creative, going so far as to create accounts using extensive false identities to con others into fake sales.

‘Hazmat’ Whiskey Is Gaining Popularity, but What’s the Pleasure in Drinking Something So Strong?

‘Hazmat’ Whiskey Is Gaining Popularity, but What’s the Pleasure in Drinking Something So Strong?:
High-proof “hazmat” whiskeys from both large and small distilleries have been gaining popularity in recent years. What's driving this trend?

Raj Bhakta, Whiskey’s Most Polarizing Figure, Returns With a Bold Bet on Vintage-Specific Spirits

Raj Bhakta, Whiskey’s Most Polarizing Figure, Returns With a Bold Bet on Vintage-Specific Spirits:
Vintages may be the center of the wine world, but spirits pros like Raj Bhakta are aiming to introduce single-vintages to the spirits world.

For OnlyFans Creators, Private Whiskey Groups Are Rife With Opportunity

For OnlyFans Creators, Private Whiskey Groups Are Rife With Opportunity:
Over the last year or so, an explosion of OnlyFans creators have started posting in Facebook's private whiskey groups.

95
POINTS
Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Straight Wheat Whiskey
Founded in 2018, Penelope Bourbon quickly became one of America’s fastest-growing whiskey companies, gaining near-nationwide distribution in just a few short years. The New Jersey-based operation sourced the lion’s share of its product from MGP’s Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and built its reputation on both quality blends and accessible pricing. Penelope’s growth soon proved too great for its biggest partner to ignore. In the first half of 2023, MGP acquired Penelope, keeping on founders Michael Paladini and Danny Polise to continue driving brand growth. Post-acquisition, Penelope expanded its offerings, including numerous expressions at more premium price points. In late 2024, the brand placed those high-end offerings under a new banner: The Penelope Estate Collection, which includes Founders Reserve, Private Select, and Single Barrel bottlings. Today, we’re looking at the first expression in the Founders Reserve lineup, which according to the brand “showcases rare and unique barrels Mike and Danny were fortunate to find.” The bottling in question is an 11-year straight wheat whiskey, distilled by MGP in 2023. (Penelope has since released a 17-year Light Whiskey under the Founders Reserve label.) Paladini and Polise acquired 24 barrels of this experimental wheat whiskey in 2019, and they closely monitored the aging progression over the course of five years. The whiskey is made from a mash bill of 95 percent wheat and 5 percent malted barley. It was initially distilled to 135 proof and barreled at 120. The 24 barrels were spread across five lots, each with unique barrel characteristics. Penelope ultimately decided to batch each of the five lots individually and at cask strength.
  • Lot B: 118.4 proof, heavy toast on staves, #2 char on heads
  • Lot C: 116.6 proof, heavy toast before char, #1 char on staves, #2 char on heads
  • Lot D: 109.5 proof, #2 char on staves and heads
  • Lot E: 107.6 proof, #3 char on staves, #2 char on heads
  • Lot F: 108.2 proof, #4 char on staves, #2 char on heads
Notably, that means the whiskey in these lots dropped in proof during aging, ranging from under two proof points to over 12 proof points lost. The bottle we’re reviewing today came from Lot E (107.6 proof), which contained 947 bottles in total. Let’s see how it tastes! Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Straight Wheat Whiskey review.

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey: Stats and Availability

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey was initially released in late 2024 at Lux Row Distillers in Bardstown, Ky. That might seem like a surprising retail spot, but it actually makes sense at a corporate level. Both Penelope (a 2023 acquisition) and Lux Row parent Luxco (a 2021 merger) live within the MGP portfolio. And unlike MGP’s Ross & Squibb Distillery in Indiana, Lux Row’s Bardstown facility is open to the public and features tours and a full service visitor experience. It’s simply a much more convenient location for product launches, located right on Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail. A number of these Founders Reserve bottles also went to select e-commerce partners. At Lux Row and in initial online sales, they carried an SRP of $199. While Penelope didn’t release official stats on each batch, the total release size across lots is estimated to be under 5,000 bottles. Anecdotally, I’ve already seen bottles pop up among resellers for several times MSRP.

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey Review

As with all of VinePair’s whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.

Nose

The nose starts off with a huge waft of bold, dark red fruit, which coalesces into a rich medley of cherry scents: cherry candy, Luxardo cherries, cherry cough syrup, and finally warm cherry pie, the top encrusted with nearly caramelized sugar. Other fruits linger along the periphery — red grapes, candied pears, stewed plums — but this is undeniably a cherry bomb of rare magnitude. There are certain cask wheated bourbons that exhibit similar rich fruit elements; some batches of Buffalo Trace’s William Larue Weller come to mind. But what Penelope has bottled here dials that up a notch (or three). To be clear, there are other scents pronounced enough to make an impact. An undercurrent of spice and dried citrus evokes clove-studded oranges. A tiny thread of passionfruit hangs on even below that. Vanilla shortbread adds a confectionary component that, despite its sweetness, manages to balance out the fruit. The nose is hardly a one-trick pony, though it takes a little patience to get beyond the powerful (though admittedly captivating) earliest notes. Bottled at 107.6 proof, this wheat whiskey punches even above that on the nose, not so much via overpowering ethanol but rather the intensity of individual aromas. There’s a lot going on, and it’s practically all worth your time. I spent nearly a half hour with my nose in the glass before I finished jotting notes.

Taste

Production-wise, in the United States, wheat whiskey is a drop in the bucket compared to bourbon and rye. Still, many experienced whiskey fans know it’s a distillate that can lean quite sweet with age. And Penelope has certainly batched a sweet dram here, with early, fruity flavors like watermelon candy, raspberry glaze, and syrupy strawberry shortcake. As with the nose, those once again merge into a variety of cherry flavors, in this instance more brandied cherry. In fact, once you get beyond the initial pop of flavor, the whiskey tastes a bit like a garnished Manhattan. It’s as if a few drops of the cherry’s syrup intermingled with flavors from sweet vermouth, hitting the taste buds a millisecond before the ethanol. I’m almost surprised by fruit’s recession along the midpalate, which makes room for both milk chocolate and oak; lightly cured tobacco and clove oil fold in alongside. This lightly astringent, tannic turn counteracts the initial sweetness and lends some composition to the palate overall. There’s effectively a handoff from cherry to barrel stave, and while sweetness doesn’t dissipate entirely, it morphs from fruit candy into black tea with a dash of honey.

Finish

Black tea, baking spice, and chocolate round out a long finish. Paprika accumulates at the back of the palate, with a muted spice that pairs well with the chocolate. Oak and cocoa powder are the final flavors to linger for more than a minute after a final sip.

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey Rating

95/100

Recap

Penelope Founders Reserve is focused on the rare and unique. This exceptional wheat whiskey checks those boxes and more, providing a captivating experience from the nose through to the finish. I won’t claim it’s the most balanced sip I’ve tasted from the brand, and it’s a whiskey that almost challenges drinkers to unlock its numerous twists and turns. But I found the effort very worthwhile, culminating in one of the best MGP/Ross & Squibb-distilled products I’ve had in some time. The 24 barrels in this release started as an experiment, and I’m glad this one finally saw the light of day in its true form — especially if an alternative meant being relegated to a minor blend component. If anything, this 11 year wheat whiskey makes me excited for what else the Penelope team might uncover from Ross & Squibb’s deep barrel stocks. Fingers crossed there are more hidden gems.

Reviewed On: 02-25-2025
95
POINTS
Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Straight Wheat Whiskey
Founded in 2018, Penelope Bourbon quickly became one of America’s fastest-growing whiskey companies, gaining near-nationwide distribution in just a few short years. The New Jersey-based operation sourced the lion’s share of its product from MGP’s Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and built its reputation on both quality blends and accessible pricing. Penelope’s growth soon proved too great for its biggest partner to ignore. In the first half of 2023, MGP acquired Penelope, keeping on founders Michael Paladini and Danny Polise to continue driving brand growth. Post-acquisition, Penelope expanded its offerings, including numerous expressions at more premium price points. In late 2024, the brand placed those high-end offerings under a new banner: The Penelope Estate Collection, which includes Founders Reserve, Private Select, and Single Barrel bottlings. Today, we’re looking at the first expression in the Founders Reserve lineup, which according to the brand “showcases rare and unique barrels Mike and Danny were fortunate to find.” The bottling in question is an 11-year straight wheat whiskey, distilled by MGP in 2023. (Penelope has since released a 17-year Light Whiskey under the Founders Reserve label.) Paladini and Polise acquired 24 barrels of this experimental wheat whiskey in 2019, and they closely monitored the aging progression over the course of five years. The whiskey is made from a mash bill of 95 percent wheat and 5 percent malted barley. It was initially distilled to 135 proof and barreled at 120. The 24 barrels were spread across five lots, each with unique barrel characteristics. Penelope ultimately decided to batch each of the five lots individually and at cask strength.
  • Lot B: 118.4 proof, heavy toast on staves, #2 char on heads
  • Lot C: 116.6 proof, heavy toast before char, #1 char on staves, #2 char on heads
  • Lot D: 109.5 proof, #2 char on staves and heads
  • Lot E: 107.6 proof, #3 char on staves, #2 char on heads
  • Lot F: 108.2 proof, #4 char on staves, #2 char on heads
Notably, that means the whiskey in these lots dropped in proof during aging, ranging from under two proof points to over 12 proof points lost. The bottle we’re reviewing today came from Lot E (107.6 proof), which contained 947 bottles in total. Let’s see how it tastes! Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Straight Wheat Whiskey review.

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey: Stats and Availability

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey was initially released in late 2024 at Lux Row Distillers in Bardstown, Ky. That might seem like a surprising retail spot, but it actually makes sense at a corporate level. Both Penelope (a 2023 acquisition) and Lux Row parent Luxco (a 2021 merger) live within the MGP portfolio. And unlike MGP’s Ross & Squibb Distillery in Indiana, Lux Row’s Bardstown facility is open to the public and features tours and a full service visitor experience. It’s simply a much more convenient location for product launches, located right on Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail. A number of these Founders Reserve bottles also went to select e-commerce partners. At Lux Row and in initial online sales, they carried an SRP of $199. While Penelope didn’t release official stats on each batch, the total release size across lots is estimated to be under 5,000 bottles. Anecdotally, I’ve already seen bottles pop up among resellers for several times MSRP.

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey Review

As with all of VinePair’s whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.

Nose

The nose starts off with a huge waft of bold, dark red fruit, which coalesces into a rich medley of cherry scents: cherry candy, Luxardo cherries, cherry cough syrup, and finally warm cherry pie, the top encrusted with nearly caramelized sugar. Other fruits linger along the periphery — red grapes, candied pears, stewed plums — but this is undeniably a cherry bomb of rare magnitude. There are certain cask wheated bourbons that exhibit similar rich fruit elements; some batches of Buffalo Trace’s William Larue Weller come to mind. But what Penelope has bottled here dials that up a notch (or three). To be clear, there are other scents pronounced enough to make an impact. An undercurrent of spice and dried citrus evokes clove-studded oranges. A tiny thread of passionfruit hangs on even below that. Vanilla shortbread adds a confectionary component that, despite its sweetness, manages to balance out the fruit. The nose is hardly a one-trick pony, though it takes a little patience to get beyond the powerful (though admittedly captivating) earliest notes. Bottled at 107.6 proof, this wheat whiskey punches even above that on the nose, not so much via overpowering ethanol but rather the intensity of individual aromas. There’s a lot going on, and it’s practically all worth your time. I spent nearly a half hour with my nose in the glass before I finished jotting notes.

Taste

Production-wise, in the United States, wheat whiskey is a drop in the bucket compared to bourbon and rye. Still, many experienced whiskey fans know it’s a distillate that can lean quite sweet with age. And Penelope has certainly batched a sweet dram here, with early, fruity flavors like watermelon candy, raspberry glaze, and syrupy strawberry shortcake. As with the nose, those once again merge into a variety of cherry flavors, in this instance more brandied cherry. In fact, once you get beyond the initial pop of flavor, the whiskey tastes a bit like a garnished Manhattan. It’s as if a few drops of the cherry’s syrup intermingled with flavors from sweet vermouth, hitting the taste buds a millisecond before the ethanol. I’m almost surprised by fruit’s recession along the midpalate, which makes room for both milk chocolate and oak; lightly cured tobacco and clove oil fold in alongside. This lightly astringent, tannic turn counteracts the initial sweetness and lends some composition to the palate overall. There’s effectively a handoff from cherry to barrel stave, and while sweetness doesn’t dissipate entirely, it morphs from fruit candy into black tea with a dash of honey.

Finish

Black tea, baking spice, and chocolate round out a long finish. Paprika accumulates at the back of the palate, with a muted spice that pairs well with the chocolate. Oak and cocoa powder are the final flavors to linger for more than a minute after a final sip.

Penelope Founders Reserve 11 Year Wheat Whiskey Rating

95/100

Recap

Penelope Founders Reserve is focused on the rare and unique. This exceptional wheat whiskey checks those boxes and more, providing a captivating experience from the nose through to the finish. I won’t claim it’s the most balanced sip I’ve tasted from the brand, and it’s a whiskey that almost challenges drinkers to unlock its numerous twists and turns. But I found the effort very worthwhile, culminating in one of the best MGP/Ross & Squibb-distilled products I’ve had in some time. The 24 barrels in this release started as an experiment, and I’m glad this one finally saw the light of day in its true form — especially if an alternative meant being relegated to a minor blend component. If anything, this 11 year wheat whiskey makes me excited for what else the Penelope team might uncover from Ross & Squibb’s deep barrel stocks. Fingers crossed there are more hidden gems.

Reviewed On: 02-25-2025