Penelope Bourbon has added a Blackberry Old Fashioned to its ready-to-pour cocktail collection, marking the St. Louis-based brand's latest push into the fast-growing premium RTD spirits segment. The release arrives ahead of peak summer selling season, giving both retail buyers and on-premise operators a new option as demand for convenient, bar-quality cocktails continues to climb.
The new expression combines straight bourbon and rye whiskey with orange bitters and blackberry simple syrup, delivering what the brand describes as a fruit-forward take on the classic Old Fashioned. For bar and restaurant operators, an RTD format like this can shrink prep time and reduce waste on a classically labor-intensive cocktail — a meaningful consideration as labor costs remain a persistent pressure point across hospitality.
Penelope has positioned the release around casual summer occasions — backyard events, patio gatherings, and relaxed social settings — a framing that maps directly onto the seasonal programming many restaurants and bars build around late May through August. Operators sourcing ready-to-pour cocktails for high-volume weekend service or catering packages may find the format particularly useful.
The Blackberry Old Fashioned extends an existing portfolio of award-winning ready-to-pour cocktails the brand has built alongside its core whiskey lineup. Penelope has been among the more visible emerging names in premium American whiskey, and the RTD extension signals confidence in the format's staying power beyond novelty. As RTD cocktail trends continue reshaping beverage program strategy, established spirit brands entering the category with recognizable base expressions carry a credibility advantage over generic co-pack competitors.
For Food & Beverage Magazine coverage has consistently noted that consumers purchasing premium RTDs are increasingly expecting the same flavor complexity they associate with crafted cocktails — a bar Penelope is aiming to meet with the bourbon-rye base and layered bitters-and-syrup build of the new release.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
