Chicken Cock Whiskey

Hattiesburg, MS

Are you ready for Chicken Cock to come to Hattiesburg?

No, really. Please don’t stop reading… Otherwise, how else would you learn about the Chicken Cock Whiskey event coming to Lincoln Road Package Store? Keep reading for all the details.

The history behind the “Famous Old Brand”

Chicken Cock is one of the oldest brands of American whiskey that remains available. It all started in 1856 in Paris, Kentucky, in a distillery owned by James A. Miller, producing a whiskey sold as “Miller’s Old Bourbon.” Just a few years later, Miller died at the age of 42, and the business was purchased by a clerk at the distillery named George G. White.

It took another couple of years for the Chicken Cock name to debut; the oldest mention of it that we can find dates back to 1862. The name stemmed from a combination of factors: Miller’s roots as a farmer, as well as the symbolism of a rooster as an example of defiance and pride. Roosters often were called “chicken cocks” back then, as well.

Chicken Cock Whiskey weathered its share of hardships. A fire devastated the distillery in 1890, doing $30,000 worth of damage – equivalent to more than $1 million dollars today. White ultimately sold the brand and all its assets to the Kentucky Distilleries & Warehouse Company, which shuttered the distillery in Paris and moved production to a larger facility. Official production might have been illegal but the Chicken Cock whiskey still was being made, only it was distributed in tin cans and smuggled across the Canadian border. Quality declined during this time and never really recovered; National Distillers eventually discontinued the brand in the 1950s.

The revival of the rooster

Chicken Cock Whiskey remained dormant for almost 60 years until Matti Antilla, who founded Grain and Barrel Spirits, learned about the brand during a visit to the Oscar Getz Museum in Bardstown, Kentucky. Six years later, through a partnership between Grain and Barrel and the Bardstown Bourbon Company, Chicken Cock Whiskey was reborn! Its new home base is located at the historic Harrison-Smith house in Bardstown, one of several locations on the famed Bourbon Trail. There, visitors can sip the whiskey and learn about the history of the Chicken Cock brand.

Today, we craft and blend Chicken Cock Whiskey with the same care and quality of standards that the founder, James A. Miller, used in 1856. Our 160th Anniversary release, a Kentucky straight bourbon aged for eight years, has earned multiple awards, including a gold medal at the World Spirits Competition in San Francisco, a platinum medal at the SIP Awards in 2017 and a score of 94 points at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge in 2018.

A unique whiskey experience is coming to Hattiesburg

Now, bourbon enthusiasts in Hattiesburg have the chance to experience the Chicken Cock Whiskey brand for themselves as part of a special event at Lincoln Road Package Store. We will have several different varieties on hand to taste and sell. This event will be held at our store, located at 2800 Lincoln Road, Suite A, in Hattiesburg, MS. For more details on this event, contact us by calling (601) 268-3677 or send an e-mail to jamiefarris@gmail.com.