I was introduced to Penelope bourbon through social media. It seemed like pictures of the bottle were popping up all over Instagram. I noticed two things. First, it was a beautiful bottle. Second, it's one of the few female names I've seen on a bourbon label. Founder, Micahel Paladini, started the bourbon company after the birth of his daughter. They're also extremely transparent about what's in the bottle.

Most brands are chasing older, higher proof and more expensive. Penelope took the opposite route. They created an affordable bourbon that wouldn't kill you to drink on a hot day. Their first release is 80 proof. This is interesting to me. With today's releases, we forget how flavorful a bourbon can be at a lower proof. Some of my favorite bourbons are dusty 86 proof bourbons. Penelope coined their bourbon a "day drinking" bourbon. Named after low abv, drinkable IPA's. I believe there's a demand for lower proof and affordable in the bourbon world.

Of course, they listened to the whiskey nerds and responded. There's now a Penelope Barrel Strength version! I can't blame them. It's a tasty release as well. Give Penelope a try. There could be more news coming from them in a few weeks.