What’s happening in wine and whiskey this week:

This Week’s Unicorn Review Stories

🍷 Jamal Rayyis wrote about the history of Chilean wine, tracing its path from uniform supermarket shelf staple to the proliferation of interesting varieties that exist today. He also offered some bottle recommendations for white, orange, and red wines from the region.

🥃 Maggie Kimberl tells the story of organic whiskey by focusing on Journeyman, which operates a pair of craft distilleries in Michigan and Indiana where they produce some excellent—and 100 percent organic—whiskeys. There are also other brands making organic and regenerative whiskeys, including Maker’s Mark which launched a partially regenerative wheat whiskey last year.

New Bottle Releases

Hard Truth French Oak Finished Bourbon ($100)

Indiana distillery Hard Truth is one of the best craft operations out there, a case that is proven once again with the release of this new French oak-finished bourbon. This whiskey is a blend of 23 barrels made from two different mashbills: one is 73 percent corn, 19 percent rye, eight percent malted barley; the other is 82 percent corn and 18 percent rye. The final blend was finished in French oak and bottled at 106.1 proof, revealing notes of toffee, candied fruit, and rye spice on the palate.

Bulleit Mesquite Smoked Malt ($50)

Popular whiskey brand Bulleit, which is owned by Diageo, launched this new experimental mashbill last month. It’s made from 65 percent corn, five percent malted barley, and 30 percent mesquite-smoked malt—and, as you’d expect, that last grain has really defined the character of the whiskey. Think savory barbecue notes intermingling with classic flavors of vanilla, maple, and honey, making this an interesting choice to use in a cocktail like an Old Fashioned to reveal smoky notes with no smoking required.

Unicorn Whiskey Pick of the Week

Chicken Cock Wheated Bourbon ($55)

When Chicken Cock launched about a decade ago, most people had no idea what this new brand was and didn’t necessarily pay much attention to it, aside from perhaps snickering at the name (it's okay, you can admit it). The brand traces its history back to 1850s Kentucky, and after moving to Canada for a time during Prohibition, it disappeared shortly after Repeal Day. Chicken Cock was revived in 2014 by Grain and Barrel Spirits, and since then there have been some hits and some misses—and some whiskeys that have been priced way too high, particularly in regards to cask finishes that you can find from other brands for much cheaper. This new bourbon, however, is both affordable and very tasty, which is why it’s worth covering here.

This is the first wheated bourbon for Chicken Cock, meaning wheat is used instead of rye as the secondary flavoring grain. Specifically, the mashbill is 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley, putting it just above brands like Garrison Brothers and Maker’s Mark in terms of wheat percentage. It was distilled at Bardstown Bourbon Company, aged for five years, and bottled at 94 proof (both a good age and strength for a whiskey at this price point). But most importantly, it’s a really decent sipper that I have been returning to over and over again, despite having pretty low expectations when I first opened the bottle.

As a wheated bourbon, you should expect some sweetness on the palate, but this is never overpowering. Overall, Chicken Cock Wheated is just very classic in character, with notes of brown sugar, cherry, orange peel, maple, and vanilla that pop as you sip. That higher proof gives the whiskey a bit of heat, a welcome feature given the subtle sweetness to the palate, and one that makes it work quite well in a cocktail—try this whiskey in an Old Fashioned, and you will be pleased with the results.

Hopefully Chicken Cock continues to focus on simpler whiskeys like this one, with only the occasional dalliance into expensive cask-finished expressions. I am looking forward to seeing what the brand releases next, and plan on revisiting some past releases to see how they stand up.