Chicken Cock Whiskies were pretty famous in the late 1800s, from their site “In 1856, James A. Miller built a distillery and started making Chicken Cock Whiskey in Paris, Kentucky. After his death, Miller left the business to a trusted distillery clerk, George G. White, who made Chicken Cock into the legend it became.” It remained well known even during prohibition when they had to move the distilling to Canada. It was smuggled over the border in small tin cans that people asked for by name. But as taste changed, they eventually went under, but not forever, again from their website “In 2011, Chicken Cock’s fortunes changed when spirits entrepreneur Matti Anttila discovered the brand in the Oscar Getz Museum while researching the early days of distillation in the U.S.” And “Anttila decided that the Famous Old Brand was worthy of a rebirth.” So, there you have the rest of the story.
Chicken Cock Rye sells for $55, is 90 proof, has a mash bill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley, is widely available, and comes in a nice, corked bottle. Strangely, it is only 2 years old, which is somewhat young for the price.
As of a lot of bottles here lately, we have never heard of this “Famous Old Brand”. We are big fans of rye and we usually like the ones with 90% or higher rye in the mash bill. We will see if Chicken Cock Rye can overcome its young age and give us a rye we can crow about.
NOSE
Frank: An oaky, earthy aroma along with strong rye lead the way with vanilla and dark chocolate coming in behind. Also getting a slight scent of malted chocolate.
Todd: Mellow, with nothing but rye jumping out. Once past the rye, I get oak, honey, a little leather, some fruit, and a bit of cinnamon.
Matt: Smells like a traditional rye but not really complex. Besides the rye, I am picking up scents of brown sugar, black pepper, clove, and a bit of cherry.
TASTE
Frank: Rye with clove, leather, and a slight medicine or ethanal taste. Ice brings out even more rye.
Todd: Nice heat with a lot of rye and grain coming through. Slighter tastes include chocolate, leather, and fruit. Ice made the drink more approachable but didn’t add much.
Matt: A touch hot, neat, with plenty of rye. Spicey, with black pepper and cinnamon on the back end, with just a touch of leather. Ice brought out barley and a baked bread-like taste.
FINISH
Frank: Medium with some bitterness. Once I added the ice, the finish was no longer bitter and had more rye.
Todd: Medium, sweet and fruity.
Matt: Short to medium, kind of sweet.
OVERALL
Frank: I have better ryes and at lower prices.
Todd: I’m not sure what I think. It does have that spicey sweet thing going on, but it’s not really complex.
Matt: It’s okay, but it’s not like I am going to go out and brag that I have a bottle.
Nose 3.5 out of 5
Taste 6.5 out of 10
Finish 3 out of 5
Final score 13 out of 20 barrels.
Another bottle that doesn’t quite deliver on the value side. There are a lot of ryes out there, with more coming. To stand out, you need to either have a great price point or a good and unique taste. Chicken Cock Rye has neither. It tastes like a traditional rye, and we can get that taste at a lot lower price. It also kind of irks us that it is only 2 years old, and they are selling it at that price.
Our final verdict, while it is a good story, there are a lot of better ryes out there than Chicken Cock.