Whiskey Review: Penelope Architects of Golf Hole 1

The short answer: Penelope Architects of Golf Hole 1 is a 6-year, 94-proof MGP bourbon (60% corn, 36% rye, 4% barley) finished with American oak staves, retailing at $60. It's the first release in a planned 18-bottle collection built around varying finish times and stave types. We scored it 40.25/50, one of the higher marks we've given a sub-100-proof bourbon in a while.

Introduction

Today on Film & Whiskey, we're returning to Penelope for the first release in their new Architects of Golf series. If you know golf, you know there are 18 holes on a course, which means this is release number one of 17 more to come from Penelope over the next several years. It's an ambitious platform, and the branding is on point: the label carries an antique-paper texture that Bob has admittedly been running his fingernails across since the bottle arrived.

The concept behind the series is straightforward. Each of the 18 releases will be differentiated by the time and intensity of the finishing process, using different varieties of oak staves to reshape the underlying bourbon's profile. The first three bottles (Holes 1, 2, and 3) are all bottled at 94 proof, and Penelope's stated goal is to demonstrate how finishing techniques can evolve a bourbon's profile within a single collection. Hole 1, which we're reviewing today, is finished with American oak staves.

The underlying whiskey is a 6-year MGP-sourced bourbon with a mashbill of 60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% malted barley (Penelope's website confusingly calls this a "two grain mash," which we're going to chalk up to a copy error). Penelope has a strong track record with us. Their Rosé Finish remains one of the best expressions we've had from the brand, alongside their original four-grain release from 2019. Brad has a personal anecdote here: he gave a bottle of the Rosé Finish to a neighbor several years back, and the neighbor still has it in his basement as a special-occasion pour. That's how good the Rosé is.

At $60 MSRP for a 94-proof, 6-year MGP bourbon, this bottle has to answer a specific question: can a stave-finished bourbon at everyday-drinker proof justify a price point that a few years ago would have looked exorbitant? Let's find out.

Nose

Brad: The nose on this is incredible. It has cotton candy and a nice effervescence to it. It gives me cherry, and there's an almond liqueur on the back end of nosing it. It still has some caramel and vanilla notes, but the sweetness isn't overwhelming. I'm at a 7.5/10.

Bob: All of the notes you gave are here. There's a deep vanilla, like vanilla extract. There's an airy quality that reminds me of being by the ocean, a sea-breeze saltiness in the air, with some saline character. Then I get white peach, not a regular peach, but that delicate floral, peachy character. I like this and I'm pumped to try it because it smells like a summertime bourbon. I'll give it an 8.5/10 on the nose.

Taste

Brad: I'll come up a little on the palate. That cotton candy explodes into a rich vanilla cake frosting vibe with a lot of caramel underneath. The almonds stick around, and it gets a coconutty essence that I'm here for. I'll give this an 8.5/10 on the palate.

Bob: There are pros and cons on the palate. The front of the palate is decadently sweet, an almost buttercream frosting note. There's toasted coconut, which plays well with the peach note I got on the nose. It's a beach sipper for me. But as it moves to the back of your palate, it turns bitter. It has those toasted oak notes that I don't always love, which extract some of the tannic bitterness out of the oak. Front of palate's beautiful, back of palate is still nice. There's warmth, baking spice, and vanilla. At 94 proof, it's a crushable whiskey, but I find it a touch thin on the mouthfeel. It doesn't have enough body or viscosity to make you chew on it. It's good, but it steps down for me on the palate. I'll give it a 7.5/10.

Finish

Brad: The finish comes back into a nice bourbon experience. The baking spices are there. I don't get the bitterness Bob is talking about. For the record, I think this has a nice viscosity for where it's at at 94 proof. You're not expecting a 110-plus bomb here. The finish has the baking spices, the caramel, and the oakiness comes through as a gentle oak that isn't overbearing. I'll drop down a bit but still give it an 8/10 on the finish.

Bob: I'll amend my palate with a higher score on the finish. On second and third sip, that bitterness from my first sip has evened out. It reminds me of a cherry Coke or a vanilla Coke on the finish, that Coca-Cola effervescence. I'm coming up to an 8/10 on the finish.

Balance

Bob: I'll give this an 8.5/10 on balance. This is a good whiskey for a 94-proofer. We rarely get anything in that 90-to-95 proof range to try anymore, and sometimes you need that solid, everyday drinker. This is that.

Brad: I'm at an 8/10 on balance. All of it is good. Nothing stands out and blows my socks off, but it's a well-balanced experience with decadent sweet flavors and enough depth of spice to round it out.

Value

Bob: MSRP on this is $60. If you'd told me four or five years ago that I'd be paying $60 for a 6-year MGP product, I'd have called it exorbitant. That's the market we're in now. A good friend of the show uses a baseline of $10 per year of aging, which falls right in line with this. Based on the taste alone, I'd call this a good $45 bottle, and $60 is pushing it. But I enjoyed it, so I'll give it an 8/10 on value.

Brad: That's where I'm at. 8/10 on value. This is a great product where $48.99 would be a killer price, and $53 would still be a good value. At $60, it's an 8/10.

Final Scores

Bob: My final score is a 40.5/50. When we first cracked this 94-proof whiskey, I didn't know if we'd hit the 40 mark. This is one of the higher scores we've given in a while.

Brad: I'm at a 40/50.

Conclusion

We're coming out to a combined score of 40.25/50 (or 80.5/100), which puts Penelope Architects of Golf Hole 1 firmly in "great" territory. For reference, 35/50 is where we'd typically start recommending you seek out a pour at a bar or pick up a bottle. 40/50 is a no-brainer, and 45/50 is excellent. This isn't hitting transcendent heights, but it's one of the higher-scoring whiskeys we've reviewed in some time, especially at 94 proof. If you're looking for a summertime bourbon to sip on the porch, or one you can smuggle onto the back nine with you, this is a strong option. We'll be watching to see how the next 17 releases stack up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Penelope Architects of Golf Hole 1 worth the price?
At $60 MSRP, it's fairly priced for a 6-year, stave-finished MGP bourbon, though $45 to $53 would be an easier value proposition. We scored it 8/10 on value combined. If you want a well-balanced 94-proof summer sipper with vanilla, coconut, and light peach character, it earns its price point.

What does Penelope Architects of Golf Hole 1 taste like?
The nose brings cotton candy, cherry, almond liqueur, vanilla extract, and a saline, sea-breeze quality with white peach. The palate delivers vanilla cake frosting, caramel, toasted coconut, and baking spices with a touch of bitter oak on the back end. The finish evolves into cherry Coke effervescence with gentle oak and caramel.

What is Penelope's Architects of Golf series?
Architects of Golf is Penelope's new 18-bottle collection, correlating to the 18 holes on a golf course. Each release is differentiated by the time and intensity of the finishing process and by the variety of oak staves used. The first three releases (Holes 1, 2, and 3) are all bottled at 94 proof to isolate the impact of the finishing techniques.