Following in the footsteps of two award-winning limited releases — the 160th Anniversary 8-Year-Old Single Barrel Bourbon (SRP: $100/750mL) and 10-Year-Old Double Barrel Bourbon (SRP: $250/750mL) — Chicken Cock Whiskey has now released 1,800 bottles of Beer Barrel Select (SRP: $80.00/750mL), a blend of 1.5-11.5 year old Kentucky Bourbons finished in Walnut Brown Ale barrels.
This most recent limited release from Chicken Cock Whiskey — one of the oldest American Whiskey brands, est. 1856 in Paris, Kentucky — is the result of creative partnership, a hallmark approach of the brand and its parent company, Grain & Barrel Spirits. In the summer of 2018, six barrels that had held Chicken Cock’s 10-Year-Old Double Barrel Bourbon were given to Goodwood Brewing in Louisville to finish their Walnut Brown Ale. Once finished, Goodwood Brewing returned those six barrels to Chicken Cock. Chicken Cock Master Distiller Gregg Snyder, then filled them with a blend of 100% Kentucky Bourbon aged 1.5-11.5 years. The Bourbon was finished in the six barrels for six months before final blending and bottling, yielding a mere 1,800 bottles of this all-Kentucky collaborative release.
Beer Barrel Select is full-bodied, with initial notes of butterscotch, caramel, and vanilla, followed by a hint of toasted oak, and then a sweet finish with nut and chocolate flavors. Never chill-filtered, Beer Barrel Select retains the flavors and slight haze of the Walnut Brown Ale. Chicken Cock’s unique, Prohibition-era bottle and “sipping glass” lid complete the heritage bourbon experience.