Tonight's Pour — Penelope Toasted Rye, After the Goal

Two pours today. One at the bar. One at home.

At The Brothers

Afternoon at The Brothers. Steve had Copper Dome Presidential Reserve Vol. II open — the cask-strength wheated single-barrel, the SEMO collaboration, the second volume of the line the Hound wrote up last month. The television cut to Messi tying the international scoring record at 110 goals on his 191st cap for Argentina. Cask-strength Missouri wheater in the glass. Thirty-eight-year-old striker on the screen. The record fell over a pour at Steve’s bar, and now the Hound will always remember where it was when that goal went in.

At home

There was a bottle waiting. Penelope Toasted Rye, Toasted Series. Batch 24-504. 100 proof. Six years old. Char 2. Heavy toast. Straight rye finished in a new charred American oak barrel — explores the depth and complexity different char and toast levels have on our flavor profile, per Penelope’s own back label.

Gift from a friend. No occasion attached. There was one now.

Crack the seal. Two fingers in the glass. Color is the tell — deeper than a standard rye, second-barrel toast pulling color out of the wood. Nose: vanilla and brown sugar on top, cinnamon stick underneath, the rye spice waiting.

Sip. Toast first. Not char, toast — the difference matters. Brown sugar and warm oak. Then the rye spine lifts: black pepper, clove, the cinnamon turning into baking spice. The 100 proof carries it without burning. Finish is long. The wood lingers without going bitter.

Penelope’s Toasted Series is one of the more honest second-barrel programs in the category. They put the char level and the toast level on the front label like a spec sheet. Read it on the bottle, taste it in the glass.

The verdict

Sixty to seventy bucks if you find it. The Architect series gets the louder press, but the toast-finished rye is what the Hound pours for a guest who wants to taste what a second barrel actually does to a straight rye.

Bottle is open. Bottle is resting. Next pour waits for a slower night.

— The Hound

Source: gift from a friend, opened the day Messi tied the international scoring record. No affiliate link, no comp, no review obligation.