Chicken Cock Debuts Wheated Bourbon

By swapping the traditional rye for wheat as a secondary grain, this new bourbon offers a softer, sweeter profile than its rye-based counterparts. This "wheated" approach is known for producing more approachable bourbons with notes of vanilla, caramel, and baked bread, replacing the peppery spice typical of rye bourbons. The mash bill for the new expression is 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley. It is aged for a minimum of five years and bottled at 94-proof. This places it in the company of other popular wheated bourbons like the W.L. Weller and Pappy Van Winkle lines, which are celebrated for their smooth character. This release marks a significant expansion for the modern Chicken Cock portfolio, which previously centered on a Kentucky Straight Bourbon with a high-rye mash bill, a Kentucky Straight Rye, and various limited releases. The introduction of a permanent wheated bourbon rounds out their core offerings, catering to a different palate. The Chicken Cock brand itself dates back to 1856 in Paris, Kentucky, and gained notoriety during Prohibition as the house whiskey of the Cotton Club in Harlem. It was famously smuggled in tin cans, earning it the nickname "the whiskey in a tin can." After a distillery fire in the 1950s, the brand went dormant for decades. It was resurrected in 2012 by Grain & Barrel Spirits, a company focused on reviving historic brands and creating new spirits to fill specific market demands. Under Grain & Barrel, the whiskey is now distilled in partnership with the Bardstown Bourbon Company, which handles the production of Chicken Cock's core lineup. The brand also recently opened its first dedicated brand home, Circa 1856, in Bardstown, Kentucky.