Fighting Cock 6 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Here we have another bottle of cheap bourbon that I bought to drink with the neighbors and/or while hidden discretely in a travel coffee mug while rocking out on stage so I don’t have to pay bar prices for my drinks. Fighting Cock is produced by Heaven Hill and is their answer to Wild Turkey 101. It’s bottled at 51.5% ABV, or 103 proof, which makes it 2 better than WT lol. It used to carry a 6 year age statement, but that was done away with in 2015 I believe and now carries no age statement at all. HH still claims that it contains mostly 6 old year stock. It is a natural color of dark copper and despite its hefty ABV, I believe it is chill filtered as I have drank it with water and over ice and not once noticed any mist forming. The mash bill is 75% corn, 13% rye and 12% malted barley. The nose has an initial hit of mint, followed by heavily charred oak, wood smoke and strong rye spice. Toffee, caramel and butterscotch leading into vanilla cream, buttery corn and black pepper. Cinnamon, light bananas, beeswax and a mineral note (limestone?). Very herbal after resting a while, tobacco, walnuts and peanuts. Water brings out brown sugar, a little more banana and a chalky note. The palate is peppery heat, oak, lots of rye with cinnamon and fennel. Walnuts, but kind of like when you are eating walnuts but then you get a bad one...like that. Bitter orange oil, astringent. Water brings out corn, vanilla, and toffee. At this point it really becomes Evan Williams Black Label. Medium to full bodied mouthfeel, lightly oily, mouthwatering and fairly hot. The finish is medium length with oak, rye and mint. Dry. For a sub $20 bourbon (I paid $18), this is pretty good stuff. The nose has decent complexity with almost nothing off putting or unpleasant. The palate is not quite so good with obvious flaws, but to be fair I believe this was meant to be mixed or at least enjoyed over ice. I was surprised how much of the rye spice came through even though it comprises only 13% of the mash bill. Probably won’t buy again as I feel EW White Label offers better flavors for the same price. A solid 3 Cheers

Run into this bourbon randomly while inspecting the spirits in the nearest store and it cost a sharp price. Well, I have expected nothing but a standard whiskey you usually get for such a price, but I haven't been disappointed by a purchase since the only thing I was driven by was a curiosity. And it performed high above my expectations despite having a quite tawdry and flashy cartoonish label. Aroma resembles the one of Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon with tons of caramel, nuts, sweet spices, figs and butterscotch. While the aroma delivers some decent yet standard notes the taste gives you a fabulous experience. Fighting Cock is one of the sweetest bourbons I've tried so far. The taste is utterly sweet with many different fruity notes - there are peaches, apricots, even mangos. Some caramel, honey, nuts along with wooden and rye notes as well. This sweetness does not disappear at once but lingers for quite a long time and expresses the bourbon's rich and appetizing charachter. After adding some water it gives a true bubble gum taste. Gorgeous. Finish is long and spicy sweet again. I liked it much and definitely would purchase it as soon as I find it for the same price.

NAS version. Nose: Sweet, with brown sugar and Vanilla Coke with some oak in the background. Neat it starts off cloyingly sweet. Almost liquer-like. Vanilla, peanut butter, and oak. Spicy tingle on the mid-palate with a surprisingly smooth finish considering its higher proof. Despite a relatively thin mouthfeel, it leaves a nice coating of vanilla, mild cinnamon and oak. This was WAY too sweet for me. A splash did help some, but there are just too many other good choices in this price range for this to be a repeat buy. My dilemma is that this is so sweet, I don't know what to mix it with to make it palatable.

Have had both the 6yr age stayed and the more recent NAS. Personally I’m a huge fan of the 6yr , you get a simple product that the things it does it does well! Surprisingly a nice blend of rye spice at the forefront followed by some oak and a nice finish. On the 6yr I’d give it an 85-88 out of 100. While the NAS one is more brash, ethanol forward and it takes an additional 5-10 extra minutes to let it breathe . The finish is also considerably shorter on the new one . It’s not bad I’ll still buy a bottle when on sale for around $17 bucks but I wouldn’t search it out. 79-82 out of 100

This is certainly a FIGHTER! At $12.49/750ml it was worth a try and expanding one's bourbon horizons. It tastes worlds better with a rock than a splash. You get all the heat you want at 103 with no loss of roughness either. It is a working man's "shot and a beer" chaser after working a tough shift at the mill. Very fun to try, but not for the faint hearted. I will have it next time with an Iron City Beer. :-)

I bought this spirit on sale at the local state ran store. I was told the 93 proof was to compete with Wild Turkey. ?...Although I enjoy WT...this bourbon has it's own mellow bite that IS acceptable and worth the low price. I DO recommend Fighting Cock as an alternative to other non BNB bourbons. Just the crazy name creates fun conversation, and is a good bourbon for cocktails...."FIGHTING COCKTAILS'! CHEERS!