Basil Hayden Dark Rye

It's just ok. Wouldn't go back to it

Caramelized flavour, notes of toffee and dried fruit with oak spice and a hint of port in the finish.

Upon organizing a small 'finished rye' tasting I realized I wouldn't make it to Kentucky to pick up my rye of choice, so pinch hitting for Woodfords Wine Cask finished rye today is non other than Basil Haydens Dark(port added) Rye. The other contenders, Angels Envy Rum Finished, High Wests Midwinter Act 7 (port finished), (we had a no show for James Pepper). So how did the pedestrian Basil Hayden match up to these heavy hitters? Choice by nose complexity, character and quality. 1 Basil Hayden 2 Angels Envy 3 Midwinters By taste: Tie: Angels Envy - Basil Hayden 3rd Midwinters The group agreed that the overall sweetness and rich character added by Basils port matched up to Rum factor in the Angels with the later winning in the "sweet" category while the Basils had just a bit more character in deep richness. Midwinters came in last as the finish was mild to subdued and really just notable. In over all value the relative msrp's again found Basil just edging out the much higher priced Angels while the Midwinters again lagged. Overall rich rye's, hot chilli and good cigars were consumed in good spirits for what went over as a good head to head taste off and somewhat surprisingly little Basil punched well over it's weight to take the event. We all were somewhat amazed the Basil Hayden could deliver at that level, esp with a pair like the Angels Envy and Midwinters in the house. For me the richness of the port addition made it an easy winner and if the "finish" technique is of questionable fairness in comparison at the end of the day it's the taste that counts. With the Angels Envy being about 10 dollars more than the High West, it was a unanimous 2nd in value and nose to nose in quality of drink with Basils. That alone is some serious recommendation for what Basil Hayden is doing with it's dark rye addition. Rye drinkers who desire a real change up in sweet richness should give serious consideration to this dark and spicy blend.