The Basil Hayden dark rye is a treat so lets see if the bourbon entry can keep up. Like the rye, this bottle comes at you with a blingey metal band around a fold over loose paper label, a style pretty much all it's own, but does the books cover yield a hint of what's inside? In this case gladly yes, yes it does! The distinct honey rye nose with sour mash and spice notes are a real treat and of course that wouldn't mean much if it wasn't also in the proof, in this case which is only 80, but it's an 80 proofer that carries much more weight and complexity than many of it's proofier rivals. Yes honey and leather, yes spices but not hot spices, the kind that really open up without over powering the sweeter and more subtle notes, some caramels brown sugar cinnamon and vanillas peak through. It finishes like a smooth and tasty treat. In spite of the gaudy marketing, Basils brings a nice array of flavor and is another worthy entrant of the Beam upper shelf contenders. I'm keeping this one around specifically to have a quality straight drink when I need to keep a clear head. There's no way a shot of this will muddle your wits and you can enjoy knocking back a snit or two and keep right on working. Wither it's a top shelf fav or just another nice go to bottle the high rye drinker should find something to like here. Cheers!