Basil Hayden Toast

Nose: Sweet, nutty, & fruit. The brown rice in combination with the toasted barrel appears to give this a very interesting dynamic. It has me hopeful the palate will be as pleasant. Palate: Sweet brown sugar with some Beam nuttiness towards the end. Finish: A quick bite of spice in what amounts to a very short finish. Overall this is an adequate expansion to the Basil Hayden lineup. I favor it more than the 10 year, & would say it’s a dead heat between this & the standard Basil Hayden as to which I prefer more. I will always have an appreciation for Basil Hayden as it was my gateway into bourbon. This bottle will definitely be appreciated by those newer to bourbon, or a simple pour for guests. Like many others, I would love to see a Basil Hayden expansion with a higher proof point than 80. It does not appear Beam intends to stray away from their approach to this lineup, but one can always hope.

On the nose you get brown sugar. This follows through to the initial sip where you get sweet, viscous, brown sugar with a very short peppery finish.

This was a really pleasant surprise, very smooth.

Rice gives an interesting finish