Review: Chicken Cock Double Oak 8 Years Old
Review: Chicken Cock Double Oak 8 Years Old
Chicken Cock‘s latest — billed as Double Oak on the front label and Double Barrel Aged 8 Years on the reverse — is officially a Kentucky Whiskey, not bourbon or rye. The producer doesn’t do a lot of explaining as to what’s going on here, but some internet research reveals the truth: The first 7 years of this whiskey’s life are spent in used barrels, not new (which disqualifies it from being called bourbon, no matter what it’s made from), and is then finished for an extra year in new oak barrels. That’s decidedly not the norm when it comes to American whiskey production, where new oak barrels are almost always the first round before any type of finishing is considered. All of which is a long way of saying: That’s why this is called a Kentucky Whiskey.
How’s it taste? Solid, for sure, though decidedly soft throughout.
To kick things off, a classic, Bourbon-adjacent spice begins the proceedings, heavy on cinnamon and vanilla, with overtones of clove and a very modest barrel char note. A bit of fruit becomes evident with some air time — cherry and a banana note, with citrus perking up later in the game. There’s plenty to dig into here, but it all feels well-integrated and a touch restrained, again quite gentle and approachable, never showy or pungent.
Similar flavors dominate the refreshing palate, though again the experience is rather on the quiet side. Here the fruit arrives more quickly, outlining a cinnamon apple character and some growing pear notes as the flavor develops. There’s plenty of vanilla and caramel in the mix, filtered through a buttercream quality that feels decidedly cakelike at times. A racier spice quality builds later in the game, coaxing out more of those clove elements and some bittersweet chocolate elements. Brown sugar and caramel continue the theme on the finish, with mild overtones of butterscotch and, again, vanilla cake frosting.
If you like your whiskey soft and sweet — and perhaps far too easy to knock back — this is a bottling to seek out.
92 proof.
A- / $100 / chickencockwhiskey.com
Chicken Cock Double Oak 8 Years Old
$100
