Basil Hayden's Bourbon

Basil Hayden migrated to Kentucky from Maryland in 1785 and became a distiller of whiskey. He is credited with having introduced larger quantities of rye into the bourbon whiskey mashbills than were used by the other Kentucky distillers-- maybe precisely because he came from Maryland, the homeground, along with Pennslyvania, of rye whiskey distilling in the US. Hayden's grandson later became a distiller and named his brand "Old Grand-Dad" in honor of his grandfather Basil Hayden. Basil Hayden's is one of the four Beam small batch bourbons, along with Booker's, Baker's, and Knob Creek. The whiskey is aged 8 years. This is a high rye content mashbill, and the same high rye mashbill as used in Krob Creek. Beam Brands now owns the Old Grand-Dad high rye content family of bourbons as well

Nose: gentle, sweet, rye spice, caramel

Taste: immediate greeting of rye spices and sweetness together, caramel, and lots of oak wood. The body is light. There is good strong flavour here

Finish: medium intensity, but long duration, with the flavours all staying on until the end

Balance: I am a rye whiskey guy, and a high rye bourbon guy. That said, I was scared of this whiskey at first, because I almost never like any bourbon at only 80 proof. Jim Murray rated this bourbon a very weak 78/100, describing it as dilute. I disagree with Mr. Murray strongly here-- this is almost the only 80 proof bourbon that I really enjoy, because the flavours are so strong. If you like high rye content bourbons, give this one a try