Review: PennyPacker Bourbon

By Christopher Null | June 9, 2013 |

There’s going to be some debate over the name. But “PennyPacker” is, from start to finish, a retro whiskey through and through. From the label design to the bottle shape and embossing. I’m kind of into it. The hipster side of me finds this a refreshingly fun little bottle.

Oh, and there’s Bourbon inside it. How’s it come across?

The mashbill is 70% corn (they call it maize), the remainder rye and barley, a rather typical Bourbon mash. PennyPacker has no age statement and is bottled at 80 proof.

As the name sort of implies, this is simple, young whiskey, and not without some charm. The nose features apples galore, backed with moderate wood notes. On the palate, again it offers that apple fruit, with some caramel notes behind it. Not quite apple pie, but perhaps a strudel of some kind, lightly sweet with a dusting of brown sugar. There’s not much vanilla to be found within, however — even on the finish the apple character rises again, making fruit the dominant component of this whiskey over anything else.

80 proof.

B+ / $28 [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS]