Basil Hayden's Bourbon
Nice Bourbon
0 285
Review by @Volks
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall85
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- Brand: Basil Hayden's
- Type: American
- ABV: 40%
This is an 8 year old off shoot expression from Jim Beam. A part of a 4x5cl pack featuring other expressions from their small batch collections.
Nose: very floral, roses for sure, perfume very fresh, lemon oil, light oaky notes, an absolutely beautiful honey note, apple toast, hint of white pepper.
Pallet: smooth, some caramel, light toasty notes, stone fruit, oak again, sweetness on the entry going to then bittereness, nice floral notes again.
Finish: very interesting mouth feel, with floral notes returning, little yeasty, sourdough note, a little mouth-watering. Very clean.
Mark neat – 8.5
This is only the 3rd bourbon ive had, but its lovely, a world apart from the scotch i usually drink. Perhaps it is restricted by the ABV only being 40%, but it is very nice indeed.
@Volks, thanks for your review.
I like Basil Hayden's too, though it is for many sort of the step-child of the Jim Beam Small Batch family. This, I think, is mostly because it is sold at 40% ABV. The others are sold at 50% (Knob Creek), 53.5% (Baker's), 60% (Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve), and barrel strength, 61-65%, (Booker's) ABVs. The texture/body of Basil Hayden's is pretty thin for this reason. I think that the rationale to make this work at 40% ABV is that Basil Hayden's uses a higher rye content than the standard Beam recipe, at around 28% for Basil Hayden's, compared to around 15% for the standard Jim Beam line. Basically Basil Hayden's is made from cherry-picked barrels of Old Grand-Dad bourbon, diluted down to 40%. Old Grand-Dad was a brand dating back to the 1840s made by Robert Hayden, Basil Hayden's grandson. I strongly recommend also trying both the Old Grand-Dad Bottled In Bond (50% ABV) and the Old Grand-Dad 114 (57% ABV). They are both wonderful bourbons. Don't bother with 40% or 43% Old Grand-Dad, though. Those are the lesser barrels watered down = cocktail makings.