Whisky Watch: Two Releases From Penelope, Nikka From The Barrel Deconstructed, & More

It’s a slower week for new releases, with today’s list headlined by a few new expressions from Penelope: a golf-themed trio of bourbons and an eclectic blend finished in rose casks that’s part of the Cooper Series. Town Branch has released its first-ever wheated bourbon aged for 6–8 years, Filmland Spirits has a new bourbon for the Kentucky market, and Green River tries its hand at honey cask finishing with a new bourbon. Elsewhere, Irish blend Lady Luck made its debut in Nevada and California, while Nikka is out with a three-sample tasting set that deconstructs its iconic From the Barrel blend.

Penelope Architects of Golf: Hole 1, Hole 2, & Hole 3 Bourbon

ABV: 47%
SRP: $60
Availability: Limited

This latest limited-edition series is a nod to the golf world and Penelope’s origin story, as founders Michael Paladini and Danny Polise first came up with the idea for the brand over a round of golf. Each “Hole” in the Architects of Golf series will represent a unique batch; the first three releases are finished with new American oak staves, with each successive release finished for a slightly longer period of time. In celebration of the launch, Penelope has created golf-inspired cocktails and has also introduced the Classic Club Sports Sweepstakes, which offers the chance to win one of nine trips for two to tennis or golf tournaments across the country (you can enter here). The first three Architects of Golf bottles will be available nationwide in limited quantities starting later this month.

Penelope Riviera American Whiskey

ABV: 47%
SRP: $80
Availability: Nationwide

Town Branch 6 year old Wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon

ABV: 49.5%
SRP: $50
Availability: Nationwide

While Town Branch’s wheated bourbon reached 6 years of age in 2024, Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co. held onto those stocks, using them exclusively as blending components for other projects and in visitor experiences at the distillery (guests could try the wheated bourbon straight from the barrel) until greater supplies of wheated whiskey came of age. That day has come—the distillery’s first wheated bourbon is here, and it’s a blend of whiskeys aged 6 to 8 years.

This whiskey’s mashbill is comprised of 70% corn, 22% wheat, and 8% malted barley, and it spent its maturation in char No.-4 oak. In commemoration of the release, Town Branch has selected an 8 year old wheated bourbon as part of its Fill Your Own Bottle Experience, wherein guests tour the distillery and ultimately leave with their own single barrel bottle.

Filmland Spirits The Crimson Cask Kentucky Straight Bourbon

ABV: 45%
SRP: $40
Availability: Kentucky retail exclusive

Filmland Spirits, the independent bottler that takes heavy inspiration from B-movies, has unveiled Crimson Cask, a 4 year old bourbon sourced from an undisclosed Kentucky distillery that has a mashbill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley.

Each of Filmland’s expressions is named after a fictional B-movie plot written by the team, with each label designed to resemble an old Hollywood movie poster. The newcomer takes notes from noir detective films, following the plight of distillery heiress named Scarlett Cross who falls under suspicion when her father is mysteriously crushed to death by a bourbon barrel. Some whiskey traditionalists might scoff at the marketing, but we’ve found that Filmland does produce very interesting liquid, with its Ryes of the Robots Extended Cut rye scoring 92 points and its Moonlight Mayhem! 2 The White Port Wolf bourbon scoring 93 points. Be sure to check out our full review for White Port Wolf in our upcoming Summer issue, which hits newsstands on June 2nd.

Green River Honey Finished Bourbon

ABV: 46%
SRP: $25
Availability: Nationwide

Green River is the latest distiller to throw its hat into the honey cask-finished ring. Its new whiskey, a 4 year old Kentucky straight bourbon, finished for 3 months in barrels that were infused with a blend of locally sourced honeys from Above the Dirt Garden and Honey Shop, a Kentucky-based, beekeeper-owned business.

Whiskey and honey are a well-documented duo; a growing number of distillers have turned to honey casks over the past decade, and apiarists have in turn aged their honey in whiskey barrels. They also pair wonderfully in cocktails.

Lady Luck Irish Blend

ABV: 40%
SRP: $37
Availability: Nevada and California; imported by Shand Import LLC

Lady Luck is a premium blend of malt and grain whiskeys distilled at undisclosed Irish distilleries and aged for a minimum of 6 years. The brand is imported and distributed by Shand Import and is partnered with Barwell Motorsport to support its Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 race program in the 2026 British GT Championship. Euan Shand, best known for Duncan Taylor scotch whisky, is a patron of the racing team, which carried the Black Bull whisky logo on the hood of its Lamborghinis.

Although they share a name, the Irish blend is unrelated to Lady Luck, a collectible Compass Box blended malt scotch released in 2009, which combined casks of Caol Ila 1980, Caol Ila 1984, and Imperial 1995.

Nikka From the Barrel Extra Marriage Set

ABV: Malt Pieces 58%, Grain Pieces 58%, Extra Marriage 51.4%
SRP: $399/3x50-ml bottle set
Availability: 800 sets for the U.S.; imported by Hotaling & Co.

Nikka Whisky is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Nikka From the Barrel (NFTB) with a limited-edition three-bottle set that deconstructs the blend by showcasing its malt and grain components. Nikka From the Barrel is a blend of over 100 different batches of malt and grain whiskies. Launched in Japan in 1985, it made its U.S. debut in 2018, and was named Whisky of the Year in our Top 20.

This set contains three 500-ml bottles: a blended grain, blended malt, and the final blend which is married for 3 months longer than regular Nikka from the Barrel.

Grain Pieces of the Barrel is a sub-blend containing the regular grain components for the brand, plus mature Coffey grain whisky made from corn with malted barley and rye at Nikka’s Satsumatsukasa Distillery, Kyushu, and matured in refill, re-charred bourbon hogsheads.

Malt Pieces of the Barrel is a sub-blend of many different batches of malt whisky covering non-peated, lightly peated, and heavily peated stocks made using different yeasts, distillation styles, cask types, and matured for different lengths of time. It includes the malt components for regular Nikka From The Barrel, with the largest contribution from Miyagikyo, supported by malts distilled at Ben Nevis and Yoichi. But this batch also enhances the influence of heavily-peated Yoichi matured in new American oak casks.