With this being this is our first ever liquor of the year, we needed to come up with a criteria for the selection process. Does a drink I had a the local bar count, or the pour I had with friends. We decided to keep it simple, what we reviewed from the start of our website until the cut off of December 1st would be eligible.
When we looked back at the year there were a lot of great liquors we had and some that we wish we could forget. Through it all one stood out above the rest and that is why we are proud to name this our first ever liquor of the of year.
The winner of the 2022 Liquor of the Year is Chicken Cock Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
Chicken Cock was first established in 1856 in Paris, Kentucky, a town tucked away in the heart of Bourbon County. During the 1920’s it was a staple of prohibition-era speakeasies, like the Cotton Club, where it was smuggled inside in non-descript tin cans, earning it the nickname, “the Whiskey in a tin can.”
Unfortunately, the original distillery where Chicken Cock was made burned down in the 1950s, causing a decades long pause for the once great brand.
In 2011, Chicken Cock’s fortunes changed when spirits entrepreneur Matti Anttila discovered the brand while researching the early days of distillation in the U.S. Just a memory of yore at that time, Anttila decided that The Famous Old Brand was worthy of a rebirth, so he began buying the best aged-bourbons he could find and exploring the market for old relics leftover from the days when Chicken Cock was one of the country’s best known bands. From EBay to the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History in Bardstown, he found a treasure trove of original bottles and promotional materials, allowing him to resurrect Chicken Cock for the 21st century.
The result is a bourbon that is approachable in terms of price, availability and taste. You can read our full review of Chicken Cock Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey from June 12, 2012.
Congratulations to our 2022 Liquor of the Year winner.
