By Richard Thomas
Rating: B
(Credit: Richard Thomas)
The next step up in Chicken Cock’s core line-up from their entry level Straight Bourbon is the Chicken Cock Small Batch. The term “small batch” remains ill-defined, but rarely abused, and this whiskey is a perfect example. Mine is from Batch 30, drawing on just five barrels. Anyone who would scoff at that as being anything other than small is telling us they don’t know how a mass market bourbon gets to bottling without mentioning the bottling house.
Those were drawn from the second and fifth floors of the warehouse, so basically the lower and upper tiers of the “middle” of contract distiller Bardstown Bourbon Company’s rickhouses. The mash is the traditional Chicken Cock recipe (70% corn, 21% rye, 9% malted barley) and uses their standard Char #3 new oak barrels. Age statements used to be on the back label for this expression, but not longer. All the same, they have usually been four to five years and I don’t expect that has changed. Chicken Cock Small Batch is bottled at 100 proof.
The Bourbon
The color on this pour was light amber (again, a hint that it is likely older than the entry-level Straight Bourbon). The nose came across like a dish of heavily seasoned baked apple with a vanilla syrup drizzle. Cinnamon, ginger and a little clove combined with a mild, but dry sliver of oak to compliment the granny smith apple note and give it some spunk. I found the palate ran in very much the same vein, with the major depature being a nutty note that arose on the back end. The finish jinked toward oak at first, before returning to nuttiness as the oak faded away.
The Price
Officially, this bottle should set you back $70.
