Chicken Cock Whiskey Debuts First Wheated Bourbon

By swapping rye for wheat as its secondary grain, Chicken Cock's new bourbon offers a softer, sweeter profile than many traditional bourbons. This "wheated" recipe, which still meets the legal requirement of at least 51% corn, is known for producing a smoother, more approachable whiskey. The new release is a five-year-old, 94-proof Kentucky straight bourbon. Its mash bill consists of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley, aged in barrels with a Level 4 char. Official tasting notes mention cordial cherries, cream soda, and caramel. This wheated offering joins a competitive field of well-known brands like Maker's Mark, W.L. Weller, and Larceny, which have long been known for their wheated bourbons. The absence of rye's signature spice allows the natural sweetness of the corn to be more pronounced. The Chicken Cock brand has a storied past, first established in Paris, Kentucky, in 1856. It gained notoriety during Prohibition as the house whiskey of the Cotton Club in Harlem, where it was often smuggled in tin cans. After the original distillery burned down in the 1950s, the brand faded from the market for decades. Entrepreneur Matti Anttila discovered the dormant brand and revived it in 2012 through his company, Grain & Barrel Spirits. Today, Chicken Cock is distilled at Bardstown Bourbon Company under the watch of Master Distiller Gregg Snyder. The brand has also established physical locations, opening tasting rooms in Bardstown and the NuLu district of Louisville.