Penelope 18 Year American Light Whiskey Review: Worth $100?

Penelope 18 Year American Light Whiskey is worth chasing at around $100. This 140.2-proof pour delivers a surprising amount of sweetness and drinks far easier than its proof suggests. We both want it on the shelf, though Tom and Steve landed on different ratings.

At a glance

• Age: 18 years
• Proof: 140.2, just into hazmat territory
• Distillate source: Seagram’s
• Mash bill: 99% corn, 1% malted barley
• Barrels: Used, second-fill oak
• Price: Around $100; Tom recalled roughly $96, or $106 with tax
• Tom’s rating: Double blue on our scale
• Steve’s rating: Solid red on our scale at first sip

American light whiskey deserves its own expectations

American light whiskey is distilled at a higher proof than bourbon. The second-fill barrels are another important difference. We approached this with bourbon in mind, but it deserves to be judged as American light whiskey.

Penelope doesn’t release many bottles with both high proof and long age statements. This is the oldest age statement we’ve personally seen from the brand. We recalled other Founder’s Series or Estate Series releases around 10 or 13 years, and we think we’ve also seen a 16-year Estate Series bottle.

That combination makes this unusual before we even taste it. Still, age and proof only get us interested. The flavor has to earn its place.

Nose: vanilla frosting, funnel cake and oak

We let the pour sit for about 15 to 20 minutes before tasting. Even at this proof, the nose didn’t smell especially hot.

One of us initially found a fairly generic whiskey character. Digging deeper brought caramel, cake batter and vanilla frosting. There was also plenty of oak on the nose, alongside vanilla bean.

Confectioners’ sugar gave it that carnival sweetness we kept coming back to. Honey and a funnel-cake note rounded it out.

Palate: vanilla bean ice cream and an oily mouthfeel

The first sip brought heat, but it also brought flavor. Steve’s vanilla frosting note shifted straight into vanilla bean ice cream. Tom picked up toffee and a little honey, while the fruit leaned toward apple and pear. It wasn’t that tart Granny Smith apple character.

The creamy, oily mouthfeel stood out immediately. This coats the mouth and hangs around, which gives the sweetness more presence.

Baking spice showed up without getting in our faces. One of us actually wanted a little more of it. Despite the initial heat, neither of us found the proof as aggressive as the number suggested.

The oak tasted much lighter than it smelled. It wasn’t the bourbon-style oak presence we usually look for, and we didn’t find much tannic bite or anything off-putting.

The corn-heavy mash bill showed itself through the sweetness. We went back and forth on calling this a dessert whiskey: it had those flavors, but the powdered-sugar character didn’t feel excessively sweet.

Finish: waffle cone and buttery vanilla

Steve followed the ice cream note into a waffle-cone finish. A light buttery vanilla character stayed with it, along with subtle oak and lingering sweetness.

The finish was long and warming. That warmth gave the pour some weight without turning the finish into a harsh proof blast.

Why Tom wanted more complexity and Steve loved the sweetness

Tom liked the balance of sweetness, oak and a little spice. The flavor was distinctive, but it wasn’t especially layered. The mouthfeel impressed him more than the complexity did.

He put its uniqueness around 9 to 9.5 out of 10, while initially placing rarity around the middle tier. Steve argued for a higher rarity assessment because it combines hazmat proof with that age statement.

For Tom, the sweetness almost suggested a finished whiskey. He enjoys finished bourbon, but these flavors didn’t push this into the company of his higher-rated bottles.

Steve judged it more as whiskey than bourbon. He liked the lighter oak because it let those sweet corn flavors carry the pour. He could see his rating moving to a double black with more time, but that wasn’t his first-sip score. This felt like a Friday-night bottle he would keep returning to.

Value: an 18-year hazmat around $100

Tom mentioned a rough age-based price benchmark we sometimes hear: about $10 per year. Applied here, that would put an 18-year bottle at $180. We wouldn’t normally expect to find a hazmat around $100, which makes this price stand out.

American light whiskey has historically been a budget, industrial-style whiskey. We think that background may help explain the price, even with this much age attached.

Steve had seen a bottle for $125 a few weeks earlier and passed. When another store posted one, he asked them to hold it and bought it for a little over $100 out the door. That was a price he felt good about.

We’ve been seeing bottles available, though we don’t know whether that reflects a softer market, more production, or shoppers overlooking the category. Our chase recommendation is around retail, since we haven’t checked secondary pricing.

For someone who wants oak-forward, complex bourbon, the sweet profile is the deciding factor. Tom still wanted the bottle despite wishing for more layers. If sweet whiskey isn’t your thing, the age statement alone won’t change that.

Worth chasing on its own terms

We’d put this alongside other American light whiskeys and hazmats, rather than ask it to compete directly with Pappy or George T. Stagg. Neither of us has had a hazmat with quite this much sweetness; our usual experiences lean more savory.

This is also a bottle we’d happily share with friends and family who enjoy good whiskey without dissecting every sip. Tom’s lower enthusiasm for the flavor didn’t change his answer to the chase question. We both want this one on the shelf.