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Sunday, October 25, 2015

Fighting Cock 6 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon

I've never been a fan of booze with aggressive names. I have a perhaps unnatural fear of what such drinks are going to do to me, particularly the morning after. It might all stem from a very difficult morning I experienced in college after spending the night with a vodka by the name of Thor's Hammer. The pounding in my head that morning told me the name was very apropos.

However, I was looking for a new desk whiskey to keep at an office that I frequently work from, and because it's not my normal office, I didn't want to spend too much. So, I averted my eyes downward to the bottom shelf bourbons, and I couldn't help but notice Fighting Cock Bourbon and a striking artistic rendering of a very angry-looking chicken on the front of the bottle.

Upon closer inspection, though, I noticed that it's distilled by the Fighting Cock Distilling Company in Bardstown, Kentucky. This was a sure indicator that, though I had never heard of Fighting Cock Bourbon before, it was likely produced by Heaven Hill, and I thus had a little more faith in the juice contained within. Furthermore, with the uptick in no-age statement (NAS) whiskies, this one prominently displayed that it was aged for 6 years. This was somewhat refreshing.

As to the whiskey itself, the best way I can describe it is that it was better than expected. While I've found that lower-shelf, younger bourbons tend to seem a bit watered down, such was not the case with this bourbon. Although it has a light body, it's a 103 proof bourbon, and it has the same robust characteristics as so many other high-proof bourbons.

It's a lightly spiced bourbon, somewhere in between cinnamon and rye spices. That spiciness is well-balanced with prominent brown sugar and vanilla flavors. What was somewhat unique about this as compared to other bourbons I've had, though, is that I also noticed a strong banana flavor. This blend of flavors reminded me a bit of bananas foster, only without the rum.

This is, however, a young bourbon, and that young age shows with a very noticeable alcohol flavor underlying all the other flavors. I really feel that this bourbon aged for another four years could be fantastic! And, who knows, perhaps Heaven Hill is already producing such a bourbon using this recipe under a different label and I just don't know about it. In the meantime, though, marketing gimmicks aside, I found Fighting Cock to be a pretty good bourbon for its price point.

Grade: B

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