Name: Basil Hayden Toast
Color: Brown
Nose: Corn, vanilla, dry wood, orange, something else?
Taste: Corn, vanilla, honey, wood, sherry, sweet finish
Basil Hayden Toast is one of several “Hayden’s” in the Small Batch expressions produced by Jim Beam Distillery. The name comes from a rye farmer from Maryland that moved to Kentucky. It is not much of a story, so I won’t waste your time.
Toast is bottled at 40% abv, non-aged stated, and as expected it spends time maturing in toasted barrels. The mash bill is 63% corn, 27% brown rice, and 10% malted barley. The brown rice is the “something else?” I could not figure out during my tasting. I don’t recall every trying a whiskey with brown rice in the mash.
I recommend giving this whiskey a chance to breathe before you sample it. It has a nice taste, good balance and is a smooth drinker, but it tasted like shit in an Old Fashioned. At 80 proof it is too weak, and the flavor profile does not work with the sugar, bitters, and fruit.
Priced around $50 and good if you like this style of bourbon but I would try the regular Basil Hayden first.
If you like it, drink it! – Christopher
If you like it, drink it!
