Beam Suntory as a brand is as frustrating and polarising as the lame hyphenated company name it currently holds. So many products makes it lack any identity. Coupled with the various departments of Beam distilled offerings , the inconsistent values and the sometimes insulting marketing gimmicks makes it hard to pin down. The Basil Hayden line therefore, is the quintessential Beam Suntory product. It doesn’t look flashy but carries itself as if it did. It’s not that great but it thinks it is. Toast is a continuation of that mindset. Priced too high. Generic bottle with a flashy faux-brass belt buckle to hide the fact. And the name…Toast…is somehow not in reference to anything charred or barrel-related but instead to the substitution of brown rice instead of rye? Baffling. The juice is solid. The rice for rye swap is surprisingly very pleasant. This goes down easy but not memorable. So why isn’t it priced accordingly? This doesn’t make consumers warm towards you, rather it makes them wary and suspicious of anything you release. So Beam. Suntory. Whoever you are now. STOP. Just make decent bourbon at decent prices with no gimmicks. Is it that difficult? I wish this wasn’t watered down to 80 proof and I wish it were $20 cheaper. Then this would be very good. Instead, it’s kind of annoying. Glad I tried it but I’ll never buy another bottle.