Basil Hayden’s was originally promoted as part of Jim Beam’s Small Batch Bourbon Collection. This collection is composed of Knob Creek, Booker’s, Baker’s and Basil Hayden’s bourbon whiskies. Although Jim Beam Distillers no longer promotes the Small Batch Collection, I would like to suggest that this selection of premium bourbon played no small part in the explosion of popularity of the spirit for whiskey enthusiasts. (It certainly has a positive impact on me.)
Basil Hayden’s is unique in that it is produced from a distilling mash which has an especially high rye content, twice as much rye in fact as would normally be used in a Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey. The whiskey is aged in American white oak for 8 years, and then bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume.
Here is a link to my review of this stellar whiskey:
Review: Basil Hayden’s Straight Kentucky Bourbon
“… The normally strong aroma of freshly fallen timbers which we usually find in bourbon is muted as if a light rain has fallen to dampen the effect.What is not muted is a firm presence of spicy rye grain which rises with oak spice and vanilla making this a bourbon aroma which has an immediate appeal for a Canadian like me who loves a rye forward whisky …”
I hope you enjoy this review which continues my look back at the original Jim Beam Small Batch Bourbon Collection.
Chimo!