Kentucky’s proximity to the Mississippi River granted access to distribute bourbon to every port down to New Orleans. From there, it could go anywhere in the world. Through aggressive advertising, J.A. Miller Chicken Cock rose in sales and expanded its reach across the country. They forged relationships with a network of distributors stretching from the Midwest to up the East Coast.

J.A. Miller Chicken Cock even made its way out west, all the way to California. 

An article published in California praised Chicken Cock Whiskey as a favorite. Large dealers were purchasing lots from 50 to 1500 barrels at a time. In a land that loves its whiskey, Chicken Cock was making an impact.

States with strong grain economies, such as Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, particularly thrived during this time of rapid expansion. As whiskey continued to gain popularity, distilleries began popping up across the nation. Unfortunately, not all of these makers were in it for the craftsmanship of distilling spirits. Dishonest manufacturers added things like prune juice, other spirits, and even tobacco spit to their product and sold it as bourbon. Actions like this tarnished the whiskey industry, making it hard to decipher what was true bourbon and what was not.

Distilleries sought a way to protect the bourbon name and add legitimacy to the industry. They needed some form of federal quality regulation. Bourbon distilleries lobbied congress and successfully passed the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. The act put in place specific regulations that ensured that only quality bourbon was being sold as such. Bourbon was now required to be stored in government-regulated and supervised warehouses, be aged a minimum of four years, poured at 100 proof, and be a product of a single distillery. By following the government regulations, distilleries could earn the “bottled-in-bond” stamp of approval signifying a high-quality, pure product.

Having been a prominent whiskey distillery in the South for roughly 50 years, Chicken Cock had been around long enough to produce premium whiskey that had been aged for decades. In 1905, Bourbon News reported that a run of Chicken Cock Whiskey aged for 25 years was now available. This run, however, was for society’s elite and sold exclusively to "millionaire clubs."  That is, until prohibition.

With longer transport routes, Distillers Corporation Limited did away with the identifiable J.A. Miller Chicken Cock Whiskey glass bottles and opted for tin cans filled with Canadian Rye. The packaging and liquid may have been different, but Chicken Cock was still making its mark in whiskey lore.

As a result of prohibition, smuggling alcohol into America became an industry of its own. The illegal sale of bootlegged alcohol ran rampant, and nowhere more so than in speakeasies. Speakeasies offered refreshment, exclusivity, music, and secrecy. It wasn’t long before Chicken Cock found its way into one of New York City’s most popular nightclubs. The Cotton Club, located in Harlem at 142nd St. and Lenox Avenue, featured Chicken Cock as their house whiskey.

Toward the end of prohibition, Chicken Cock Whiskey changed hands again. The American Medicinal Spirits Company, owned by National Distillers Products Corporation, trademarked the brand and sold it for medicinal use. After the 21st amendment passed and Prohibition came to an end, there was a push for the revival of Chicken Cock Whiskey. National Distillers Products Corp. poured efforts into advertising attempting to bring it back to its pre-prohibition glory.

But it wasn’t that easy.

Prohibition outlawed the manufacturing of intoxicating beverages in the United States. This means that for thirteen years, while prohibition laws were intact, there was little to no whiskey being distilled in the U.S.

For several years after the end of Prohibition, whiskeys were either barely aged or replaced by unaged bourbon. It was hard (if impossible) to procure quality aged liquors for the market. Whiskeys quickly fell out of favor for lighter, unaged spirits. 

Gradually, the once coveted Chicken Cock Whiskey brand started fading away, until dying off in the 1950s.

Chicken Cock Moves 77 Miles From Original

From the day Matti Anttila discovered Chicken Cock, his goal was to eventually return the brand to its ancestral home, Kentucky. That journey was completed in 2018 with the laying down of the brand's first barrels of Kentucky Bourbon in over 50 years and then in September, the announcement that Chicken Cock had joined the collaborative distilling program at The Bardstown Bourbon Company (BBCo).

Through BBCo’s distilling program, Chicken Cock's Master Distiller Gregg Snyder will collaborate with Bourbon Hall of Fame Master Distiller Steve Nally (formerly with Maker's Mark) and BBCo’s distilling team, led by Executive Director of Distilling Operations, John Hargrove, to produce its high-quality, small-batch whiskey, bourbon, and rye for many years to come.