Chicken Cock Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

Originally established in 1856 in Paris, Kentucky, Chicken Cock quickly became one of the larger bourbon brands of the 19th century. Forced to move production to Canada when Prohibition started, Chicken Cock was smuggled across the border in tin cans, where it rose to fame as a popular serve at some of the era’s most famous speakeasies, including the legendary Cotton Club in Harlem. At the Cotton Club, when patrons ordered a “Chicken Cock,” waiters would present the tin can tableside and ceremoniously open it to reveal the bottle of Chicken Cock Whiskey inside. Duke Ellington writes about Chicken Cock in his memoirs, referring to the “brand that was served in a tin can.” At a rumored $15 per bottle Chicken Cock wasn’t for the light of pocket, but it was a small price to pay to secure a prime table near some of the greatest musicians of the era. After prohibition, multiple attempts were made to bring “the famous old brand” back to its former glory, but shifting drinking habits caused it, along with many significant American Whiskey brands of the 19th and early 20th centuries, to disappear. It is thus with great pride that we have the honor to reintroduce to the world this once famous (and we hope soon to be famous again) brand, paying homage to its great history while embracing the future with a bold new look and flavor. To help provide the necessary assistance and guidance toward resurrecting this high quality whiskey and re-establishing its once famous reputation, Grain and Barrel Spirits hired the services of long time industry veteran, Gregg Snyder, as the Master Distiller and Blender for Chicken Cock Whiskey. Through Gregg's years of vast experience and knowledge, not only with making high quality whiskey, but also with making high quality whiskey barrels, Chicken Cock Whiskey is once again being recognized as one of the  best whiskies available in the world. Distilled, aged, and bottled in Kentucky, Chicken Cock Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey has a rich caramel color with a hue of dark orange.  A nose with pepper, a hint of cinnamon, grassiness, and sweet oak lactones.  A taste which offers a tremendous complexity of spices, vanilla, butterscotch, pepper with a hint of dryness and slight overtones of citrus and oak.  Very long, slow peppery finish with a hint of sweet honey and a wonderful buttery mouthfeel.  The whiskey is bottled in a prohibition-era replica of the original Chicken Cock bottle, non-chill filtered, 95% rye, and 90 proof.