Review: Chicken Cock Old Glory

Chicken Cock has dropped a few out-there releases since its re-inception in 2017 as a premium whiskey producer, but none of them are as unique, I think, as Chicken Cock Old Glory. What’s in the bottle? A blend of 70% Chicken Cock Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey with 30% Laird’s Apple Brandy — an homage to two of America’s ancestral spirits. This was dropped for the big U.S. 250th anniversary last month but it slipped through the cracks here until now.

Both components are aged a minimum of 4 years, which is young for rye and extremely young for apple brandy. Let’s salute the flag and give it a taste.

Chicken Cock Old Glory Review

There’s definitely a caramel apple element on the nose here, though it isn’t as distinct as you might expect, buried under significant florals, largely dried and potpourri-like, with overtones of baby’s breath and, eventually, some buttery honeysuckle.

The palate is, perhaps unsurprisingly given the components, extremely dry — almost dusty on first blush, before it gets some air in it. Here the blend shows off significant astringency, again evoking dried white flowers plus lavender and fresh linens, some of the hallmarks of young brandy, whether grape or otherwise. Time spent with Old Glory is rewarding, the spirit settling into slightly sweeter territory — and becoming more evocative of apples — albeit never wandering far from the flower shop. Hints of green peppercorn, saffron, and dusky hemp cling to the midpalate, coating the tongue.

The finish is, admittedly, a little harsh, and it never really settles down the way I hoped it would, even after time in glass and through the addition of water, which serves merely to dull the overall experience. I love a great rye and a great apple brandy, but this blend is just too young to get anything meaningful going. At $65, it’s a bit of a tough sell.

100 proof.

B- / $65

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