Chicken Cock Chanticleer landed on my desk. Here is what I found.
Nose
Mahogany-copper with extremely slow and thin legs. You can smell this in the glass before you put it to your nose. Warm and smooth oak, like a rick house on a warm day. With the nose above the glass, we get sweet notes of maple, pine, Cognac, red wine grapes, and some orange chocolate. After a beat there are more subtle notes of leather, honey, and alcohol. Right out of the gate there is a nice punch of flavor. The first sip almost overwhelms the senses, and you must ride it out. It’s a great primer to revisit the whisky. With a second taste we are enveloped in Cognac sweetness, a dark complex sugar of fine wine. It molds to the tongue to bring out the sweetness we found in the nose. I found oak, cherries, semi-dark chocolate, and dates. The dry mouthfeel becomes a long finish, one of the longest I’ve had in a while. The aftertaste evolves beautifully the longer you let the whiskey evaporate off your palate. There is a warming of the chest without burning, and a lovely profile sitting on the back of the throat.
Palate
This whiskey is a hit. I often doubt myself regarding the whiskeys that I like. A creeping thought which tells me I only like super sweet, non-complex, bourbon whiskey and I can’t appreciate complex, non-sweet whiskey. This whiskey quiets that part of my brain. This is a sharp, semi-sweet whiskey with a terrific profile and wonderful complexity.rnrnThis whiskey does a lot of things right and puts a great deal of talent on display. It may not be for every drinker, but it really hit the mark for me.
Finish
Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by Whiskeyful or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.
The Bottom Line
Chicken Cock Chanticleer is outstanding — one of those bottles that reminds you why you fell in love with whiskey in the first place. If you see it, do not hesitate. This one earns a permanent spot on the shelf.
