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Penelope Rio vs Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond
Penelope Rio and Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond sit on opposite sides of a familiar divide: a sourced, classically built blend versus a new-wave, wheat-forward craft style.
Key Specifications
| Feature | Penelope Rio | Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond |
|---|---|---|
| Type / Style | Four-Grain Bourbon | Wheated Bourbon |
| Mash Bill | 74% corn, 7% rye, 16% wheat, 3% malted barley | 64% corn, 24% wheat, 12% malted barley |
| Age | No age statement | 6 years |
| Proof | 98 proof (49% ABV) | 100 proof (50% ABV) +2 proof |
| Approx. Price 1 | ~$80 – $100 | ~$45 – $60 ~$38 less |
| Availability | Limited | Widely available easier to find |
- US shelf prices as of 2026-10; they vary widely by market.
AG’s Rating and AG’s Notes
Penelope Rio
Not rated yetNo notes yet.
Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond
Not rated yetNo notes yet.
Flavor Profile
Penelope Rio Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond
Axis by axis, biggest gap first
spice 6/3 spice: Penelope Rio 6 out of 10, Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 3 out of 10
sweetness 9/7 sweetness: Penelope Rio 9 out of 10, Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 7 out of 10
oak 4/5 oak: Penelope Rio 4 out of 10, Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 5 out of 10
nuttiness 3/4 nuttiness: Penelope Rio 3 out of 10, Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 4 out of 10
fruit 6/6 fruit: Penelope Rio 6 out of 10, Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 6 out of 10
heat 5/5 heat: Penelope Rio 5 out of 10, Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 5 out of 10
Flavor Profile Differences
The gap between these two is mostly about spice.
- Penelope Rio: Penelope's four-grain blend finished in honey barrels and then amburana wood. It tastes like a cinnamon roll: honey, gingerbread and sweet baking spice.
- Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond: A sweet-mash, bonded wheated bourbon from a distillery founded by two fermentation scientists, and the technical care shows in how clean it tastes. One of the strongest craft arguments on the shelf.
Which One Should You Choose?
- Go with Penelope Rio if you want a honey-and-amburana-finished bourbon that tastes like a cinnamon roll.
- Go with Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond if you want a bonded, sweet-mash wheater from a modern distillery doing genuinely careful work at a significantly lower price point.
Best enjoyed neat, old-fashioned (Penelope Rio); neat, rocks (Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond).