Country – Region: USA – Kentucky
Distillery: James B. Beam Distilling Co.
Type: Straight Bourbon Finished in Toasted Casks
Age: NAS
Cask: American White Oak & Toasted Casks
ABV: 40%
Proof:80
Price: $50

Nose: Light sweet corn, cereal, orange zest, ginger

Palate: Creamy, butterscotch, light ginger, dark honey, brown sugar

Finish: Toasted oak, vanilla, subtle black pepper caramel

Basil Hayden Bourbon has been a favorite by many who joined my online classes over the years. In those years, four whiskies joined Basil Hayden’s permanent line and Basil Hayden Toast is the last of them.

What Is Special About It?

Toast has a mashbill which replaced Basil Hayden’s classic 27% rye with 27% American grown brown rice in this whisky. It is also undergoing a finish in toasted oak barrels for  some time.

Basil Hayden has always stood out for a daily drinker with its lower proof among its rivals. Beam tried another brown rice bourbon 6-7 years ago, so this wasn’t actually unexpected. However, finishing the whiskey with this mashbill in toasted oak barrels was unexpected by me.

How Does It Taste?

The nose starts with a very light sweet corn feeling. Cereal and orange zest complete each other as we expect from a classic bourbon. Ginger appears at the very end.

I believe the magic happens in the palate. It has a creamy texture, with huge butterscotch and brown sugar flavors complemented with dark honey. Creamy texture gets thinner very fast, I believe this is due to brown rice.

Finish has an intense toasted oak feeling with vanilla and subtle black pepper with caramel.

Verdict

Basil Hayden Toast is a very interesting bottle from Basil Hayden. It actually started to gain more attraction as it is finding more shelf space in the market. With its $50 price, it actually started to attract bourbon drinkers, especially Beam supporters.

For me, it has a very light and sweet palate. However, the palate is quite intriguing if you like an afternoon sipper. I would say, if this bottle was at $40, we would be looking at a replacement for the regular bourbon for a good amount of people.