Is it best to redirect website on new domain

some penalties do pass through redirects.

This being said, if you've tried everything to recover the domain but didn't succeed yet then yeah, it's worth trying to salvage it via 301.

But if you've not tried reviving the domain yet then I think you should try that first, just so you don't have to work more. Also, why on Earth have you waited 1.5 years to see whether the domain comes back?? If it doesn't automatically recover within 3 months you should revive it manually, but not after 18 months lol
 
It is up to you to decide if you want to redirect your old website on the new one.
 
Try finding out why you got hit first, and then recover. if it fails, then you can try redirecting to a new domain. sometimes, your backlinks might be the cause of your penalties, so make sure that you've thoroughly looked for the reason why you got hit in the first place.
 
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