The Last Call

  Penelope Marshmallow Toast Bourbon Whiskey Review.      Penelope has been on a roll lately, especially since settling under the MGP umbrella, and their recent limited releases have been grabbing attention for good reason. Marshmallow Toast debuted in late 2024 alongside the Cream Brûlée Architect in 2025, and each showcases Penelope’s knack for pulling highly specific flavor profiles from single barrels. I missed the excitement of batch one, but batch two found me at the right moment during my travels, and at a reasonable price. As a longtime Penelope fan and a lover of toasted bourbons, this release had me genuinely excited.      Batch one appears to have been closer to four years old, making batch two a slight age upgrade. The whiskey is then finished in heavily charred No. 3 casks, designed to coax out toasted sweetness, vanilla creaminess, and the “marshmallow toast” character they’re aiming for. The transparency behind this release only add...

 Penelope Wheated Bourbon Whiskey Review.          Penelope has become a household name in the bourbon world, and for good reason. Their transparency around sourcing and blending, especially with access to MGP stocks since their acquisition, has led to some exciting releases. With the Weeded Bourbon, Penelope is offering something approachable and shelf-stable, an everyday pour that doesn’t break the bank.      This release is a four-grain bourbon and is only 1% different compared to their standard four-grain. It shifts slightly, boosting the wheat while trimming the barley, a subtle but interesting tweak. The whiskey is aged four to six years, with a blend that includes some older barrels for added depth. At a price point generally ranging from $30–$40, it aims squarely at the budget-friendly market while offering a higher proof than their standard four-grain expression. For the full video review visit the link here:  https://youtu.be/X...

 Rare Saint Straight Rye Whiskey Review.      Rare Saint is a newer brand on the Indiana whiskey scene, with its operations based in Indianapolis. Early indications suggest they do a lot of sourcing from MGP, which is far from a bad thing, MGP makes some excellent whiskey. That said, there’s a bit of marketing questions here, with the bottle labeled as a “limited release” and “rare spirit.” I picked this one up out of curiosity and a desire to support a local brand, hoping to see how they handle barrel selection.      The labeling suggests a two-barrel blend and an official age statement is nowhere to be found on the bottle. Their website mentions a 5-year age, but without that detail on the packaging, it’s left as an assumption. For the full video review visit the link here:  https://youtu.be/DZdKGnv-FUs Age Statement: 5 years (according to the website). ABV:  57.65%. Mash bill: 95% rye, 5% malted barley. Area of Distillation: Indiana. Appea...

 Penelope Bourbon Cigar Sessions One American Whiskey Review.        Penelope has long been a name to watch in the whiskey world, and with their 2025 release of  Cigar Series Chapter One , they’re pushing the boundaries again. This bottle, which I stumbled upon in mid-July, had been out for about a month and a half, but there it was, sitting on a shelf like it was waiting for me. It felt like one of those “last one left” moments, maybe even a bottle someone stashed in the back hoping to grab later. Regardless, it came home with me.      Now, I’m not a cigar smoker myself, but I’ve always had a soft spot for cigar blends. There’s something about the sweeter, often multi-finished profiles that tend to hit my palate just right. This particular entry from Penelope doesn’t rely on multiple barrel finishes the way others in the space do. Instead, they’ve opted for a more blend-forward approach, and honestly, that’s what made me so curious. It’s a b...

 Old Hamer Single Barrel Cask Strength 8 Year Bourbon Whiskey Review.      There’s something oddly charming about Old Hammer. It’s like the quiet cousin of West Fork Whiskey Company—same bloodline, just a little more rough around the edges, and a lot more likely to knock your socks off with cask strength heat. This particular bottle is a single barrel pick selected by the in-house whiskey club over at West Fork, and while I wasn’t lucky enough to be on the tasting panel for the pick, I  was  there on release day. One pour in, and I knew it deserved a closer look. Here’s the deal: Old Hammer leans hard into the MGP pipeline, and this bottle is built on the classic 99% corn, 1% malted barley mash bill. That’s the sort of recipe that usually doesn't see much love, so to see it dressed up in an 8-year-old cask strength expression is great. Due to the mash bill you highly rely on the barrel, age, and proof to do the lifting scene there's really no other grains B...

 Penelope Architect Creme Brûlée Bourbon Whiskey Review.      Let me be honest up front—I had written this one off. Penelope’s “Crème Brûlée” finish in their Architect Series sounded like a gimmick, another novelty bottling destined to get dusty on a shelf. But curiosity got the better of me when I heard a nearby shop had just one bottle left. A quick phone call and a gracious store clerk later, I found myself making the hour-long drive to secure it. Now, I’ve always liked what Penelope puts out. While I haven’t had every single expression, the ones I’ve tried hit that sweet spot. And with Penelope now officially under the MGP umbrella, they’ve been churning out some seriously strong offerings.       Penelope uses a three-grain mash bill here. The whiskey is aged at least five years and finished using French oak staves, specifically selected in collaboration with a French cooperage using what they call “oak stave technology.” These staves are chos...

 Three Chord Single Barrel Double Oaked Bourbon Whiskey Review.      Three Cords has been on my radar for a while now, they’ve put out some fun finished bourbons, and the toasted/honey combo they released before was downright phenomenal. So when I spotted this six-year, cask strength, single barrel double oak pick from Lake Liquors, I knew it was coming home with me. Double oaks are a personal weakness, and this one had that “buy it now or regret it later” kind of look. At $50, it was an easy decision.      This one’s sourced from Indiana, yep, we’re talking MGP. It was barreled January 18, 2016, and bottled May 22, 2023, then given the double oak treatment in a fresh new charred barrel for extra depth and sweetness. That six-year age puts it right in MGP’s sweet spot, where the bourbon still has some liveliness but has built up enough oak character to really shine. The proof sits at 55.4%, giving you all the richness you want without tipping into pala...

 World Whiskey Society American Light Whiskey Cigar Blend Whiskey Review.      I received this spirit as a review sample from the World Whiskey Society,  linked here . It is important to clarify this did not impact the ratings of this review.      World Whiskey Society isn’t just dabbling anymore, they’re deep in the game. Over the last few years, they’ve become known for tracking down rare barrels, blending and finishing them with finesse, and then releasing bottles that are as stunning to look at as they are to drink. When I saw this one, a 20-year-old American Light Whiskey dubbed their “Cigar Blend”I was instantly intrigued. Multiple finishes, a bold age statement. Count me in.      Let’s start with the stats. This is a 99% corn, 1% malted barley light whiskey sourced from Indiana (likely MGP), What makes this bottle truly wild, though, is the finishing regimen,  deep breath : Awamori, Cognac, Madeira, Pedro Ximénez Sherry,...

 Fincasa Rum Barreled Finished Rye Whiskey Review.      I received this spirit as a review sample from Fincasa Whisky, linked here . It is important to clarify this did not impact the ratings of this review.      Fincasa Whiskey quickly became one of my to go ryes finished in a rum barrel. After experiencing batch 001, I instantly cooed tell the direction they were heading was going to be great. Now we are on batch three and some hefty changes are showing! The label clearly states the barrel origin, age, and finishing time, a level of transparency that should be the industry standard and that we love to see.       Fincasa continues to source their rye from Indiana where they bumped the age from three years to five years. But what sets batch three apart is its finishing process. While batches 001 and 002 were aged in Barbados rum barrels, this expression is finished in ex-Puerto Rican rum casks for a full 12 months. After speaking to...

Dark Arts Double Oaked 2 Barrel Blend Bourbon Whiskey Review.      Sometimes a bottle calls to you without rhyme or reason, and this was one of those moments. Dark Arts Whiskey House had just dropped a new Seelbachs pick: a double-oaked, two-barrel blend of well-aged MGP bourbon. Drink. Click. Order placed. Truth be told, I have been loving nearly everything I sampled from Dark Arts in 2024, I figured it was a safe bet. What followed was a bit of a rollercoaster.       This bottle brings together two sourced Indiana bourbons, one aged 11 years and the other 10. The final blend underwent a secondary maturation for double-oaking, and it was bottled at cask strength, uncut and unfiltered. The concept is promising: a rich, layered bourbon leaning heavily into oak and spice, with a base spirit old enough to carry some weight. On paper, it checks the boxes. But it’s always what’s in the glass that counts. For the full video review visit the link here:...

Backbone Bourbon Company Uncut Unfiltered Single Barrel Bourbon Review.      There’s something comforting about pouring a glass from a distillery you’ve grown to trust. Tonight's pour comes from Backbone Bourbon Company, right here in Indiana, and if you've followed along for any amount of time, you’ll know I have a soft spot for them. This single barrel, uncut straight bourbon comes in at a bold 63.8% ABV and boasts over 8 years and 8 months in the barrel. Backbone’s approach to transparency and craft has always stood out to me. Whether it's sourcing, blending, or just having fun with good whiskey, they don’t hide behind gimmicks, and that earns my respect every time.      Backbone doesn’t play coy about their whiskey’s origin. This one is sourced from MGP, proudly stated both on the bottle and their website. Again, this is a barrel proof, single barrel expression, meaning no dilution, no blending, just one specific barrel chosen for its character. This pa...

 Proof and Wood Tumblin' Dice Single Barrel Double Oaked Bourbon.      I received this spirit as a review sample from Proof and Wood,  linked here . It is important to clarify this did not impact the ratings of this review.      Proof and Wood has always been a brand I respect because they’re straight with people. They are out sourcing their whiskey, but they’re upfront about where the whiskey comes from, the mash bills, the finishing; none of that smoke-and-mirrors marketing you see from some others. And to top it off, they usually keep the bottles pretty wallet-friendly, which in today’s bourbon market is something worth calling out. Double oaked whiskeys are one of my sweet spots, they tend to layer on that extra depth of sweetness and oak that just works for me. So this pour had my attention from the start.           Now, the TTB has the final say when it comes to labeling, and officially this bourbon carries a 4-...

Penelope Toasted 6 Year Rye Whiskey Review.      I received this spirit as a review sample from Penelope Bourbon. It is important to clarify this did not impact the ratings of this review.     Now I've really enjoyed what Penelope has been releasing for the past few years. While they only officially hit here in Indiana around mid 2023, by first experience with them was the Toasted Rye, and I was hooked. Now flash forward and Penelope has access to even more MGP stock since they are under the same roof. In 2023 I really loved the Toasted rye relasesed and that was using a 100% rye. Now here in 2024 they tweaked the mash bill just slightly, changed the char level, and gave it a solid age statement. For the full video review visit the link here!:  https://youtu.be/6EfAIWIARqM Age Statement:  6 Years. ABV:  50%. Mashbill:  95% Rye, 5% Malted Barley. Area of Distillation:  Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Finishing:  Char #2 Barrel....