Toast, Basil Hayden’s Latest Innovation, Is A Brown-Rice Based Bourbon

Basil Hayden is paradoxically among the oldest and the youngest Kentucky bourbon expressions. Its roots are closely intertwined with American history and the Kentucky distilling industry.

The original Meredith Basil Hayden, Sr., for whom it’s named, was a Maryland Catholic who guided a group of 25 Catholic families from Maryland to Kentucky in 1785. They settled in what is now Nelson County, Kentucky, not far from Bardstown, one of the centers of Kentucky’s distillation industry.

Once settled in Kentucky, Hayden donated land for the construction of a Catholic church; the first Catholic church west of the Alleghanies. He also began distilling.

By the 1780’s, there were a number of distillers producing corn whiskey in Kentucky. The term bourbon, however, was not yet being applied to this spirit. That practice did not start until the mid-19th century.

Little is known about Hayden’s original whiskey, except that he used a high proportion of rye in his mash bill. That’s not surprising since, at the time, rye whiskey was the predominant spirit being produced and consumed in Maryland. It’s likely that Hayden’s first whiskey was a rye whiskey, but that the mash bill included a significant proportion of corn as was the practice among Maryland distillers.

Fast forward a couple of generations to 1840. Raymond Basil Hayden, the grandson of the original Basil Hayden, built a new distillery in Nelson County. He named his whiskey “Old Grand-Dad” in honor of his grandfather. The label featured a fanciful portrait of Basil Hayden.

Old Grand-Dad was a bourbon since more than 50% of its mash bill was corn, although it still retained a significant component of rye.

The brand still exists, making it one of the oldest bourbon brands in existence. Today, the brand is owned by Beam Suntory, and the whiskey is produced at the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, Kentucky. The current mash bill is 63% corn, 27% rye and 10% malted barley. This is consistent with the original mash bill used by Raymond Hayden.

In 1992, Beam Industries introduced a small batch collection consisting of four whiskey expressions: Basil Hayden, Knob Creek, Bookers and Baker’s. Basil Hayden was the lightest bodied of the four, and utilized a mash bill that Jim Beam believed was similar to the one originally used by Meredith Basil Hayden when he first began distilling.

We are not entirely sure what mash bill Meredith Hayden used, and it’s likely that mash bill evolved over time. The current mash bill used for Basil Hayden is the same as that used for Old Grand-Dad.

Today, the Basil Hayden range consists of three core whiskey expressions: a Kentucky Straight Bourbon, a 10 YO Kentucky Straight Bourbon and a Dark Rye Whiskey.

The latest expression set to become part of the Hayden core range is Toast, a whiskey in which brown rice has replaced the 27% rye in the mash bill and that undergoes a secondary finish in heavily toasted barrels.

According to the company:

Uniquely-crafted by eighth generation distiller, Freddie Noe, Basil Hayden Toast is a product that marries innovation and history. In lieu of traditional rye grain, Basil Hayden Toast is made using US-grown brown rice, which imparts a hint of sweetness and a touch less spice, while a secondary toasted barrel finish draws out notes of caramelized sugar and toasted wood. 

After aging, the toasted brown rice bourbon is blended back with more brown rice bourbon which has been rested in level four char barrels to achieve a final product with complex flavor grounded in sweet vanilla and rich roasted nuts, which embodies the welcoming, approachable nature for which Basil Hayden is known.

Basil Hayden has also released several limited release rye and bourbon bottlings. Although these are not part of the core range, they can still be found in many retail stores. There are several in particular worth looking for.

Basil Hayden Caribbean Reserve is a blend of 8 YO Kentucky Rye Whiskey and 4 YO Canadian Rye Whisky from Alberta Distillers to which a small quantity of black strap rum has been added.

Basil Hayden, Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, 10 YO, is one of the oldest rye whiskeys bottled by Basil Hayden. The whiskey has a classic rye profile, with the smoothness and sweetness typical of an aged rye whiskey.

Basil Hayden Rye Whiskey is a traditional 4 YO rye whiskey that is then re-barreled in newly charred quarter cask barrels for an additional 7 years. The result is a deeply flavorful rye whiskey with a flavor and aroma profile typical of a much more mature rye whiskey.

Below are tasting notes on the entire core range of Basil Hayden whiskeys, including Toast, their newest release.

Basil Hayden, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, NAS, 40% ABV, 750 ml

This whiskey is Basil Hayden’s entry level bourbon. On average, it sells for around $40. On the nose, it shows the characteristic high rye bourbon profile of red berries, especially cherry, and peach and apricot. There are additional notes of orange marmalade, along with some cinnamon and white pepper.

On the palate, there are notes of peach and dried apricot, along with some vanilla, cinnamon, a touch of clove and some seasoned oak.

The finish is short to medium length, sweet, with lingering notes of dried peach and apricot, and a touch of pepperiness.

This is a good whiskey, but one that has a lot more potential. It’s a pity that Beam doesn’t issue a Bottled in Bond version of this whiskey. A few additional years of aging and the higher proof would make it much more flavorful and complex. Even a premium version bottled, for example, at 44% ABV/88 proof would produce a much more intriguing whiskey. A higher proof version would be an excellent candidate for a limited release bottling.

Basil Hayden, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 10 YO, 40% ABV, 750 ml

This whiskey is a more complex, layered version of the entry level Basil Hayden bourbon reviewed above. On the nose, it offers more intense fruit aromas of cherry syrup, and stone fruits of peach and apricot. The seasoned oak aromas are also more pronounced. There are additional, expected, notes of vanilla, cinnamon and caramel, along with a bit of clove and a touch of fresh mint.

On the palate, the whiskey is very smooth. The fruit notes are less pronounced, however, than they are on the nose. The whiskey offers up a honeyed sweetness, along with caramel, vanilla, cinnamon and oak notes, accompanied by some smoke, a touch of clove and some pepperiness.

The finish is medium length, with a slight, lingering, fruity sweetness of dried apricot and cherry syrup and seasoned oak.

Basil Hayden Toast, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 40% ABV, 750 ml

On the nose, the whiskey is very sweet, with a honeyed, almost maple syrup like aroma. As it opens up a more traditional bourbon note of savoriness emerges. There is a pronounced note of cinnamon, but overall the whiskey is less spicy than the other Hayden expressions, both bourbon and rye whiskeys.

On the palate, the whiskey is very smooth. It’s less sweet than it appears on the nose. There are dried fruit notes of apple, peach and apricot, along with a slight tropical fruit note featuring melon and a touch of mango, as well as a pronounced nutty note. There are spice notes of cinnamon, along with a mild but persistent black pepper and a touch of clove.

The finish is medium length, with lingering notes of stone fruits, toasted wood and a mild pepperiness.

This is a great whiskey for someone who is not a traditional bourbon drinker or is transitioning from being a predominantly Scotch whisky drinker.

It’s not entirely clear how substituting brown rice for rye changes the whiskey’s profile. It feels smoother on the palate and nuttier, as well as less spicy and sweeter than the other Basil Hayden expressions, but as it opens up its bourbon DNA becomes more pronounced.

Basil Hayden, Dark Rye, NAS, 40% ABV, 750 ml

This is a blend of Kentucky straight rye whiskey that has been combined with Canadian rye whisky from Basil Hayden’s sister distillery in Canada, Alberta Distillers Ltd., and a touch of Port-style wine from California.

This is a very unusual rye whiskey. On the nose, the Port-style wine influence is obvious and unmistakable. It offers aromas of dark black fruits, especially blackberry and dark cherry, along with prune and a touch of fig. There are additional notes of baked apple, vanilla and caramel, along with the requisite rye spice notes, but these are more subtle than the typical rye.

On the palate, there is a distinct fruit sweetness of black and blue berries, along with plums, both fresh and dried, accompanied by notes of vanilla, caramel and cinnamon. On balance, the flavors provided by the Port-style wines tend to dominate the classic rye whiskey profile, making the latter more subtle and nuanced, but also adding to the complexity of the whiskey. As the whiskey opens up the rye characteristics become a little more noticeable.

The finish is long, with lingering notes of sweet black fruit, along with flavors of almond, seasoned oak and pepper.

This is a very interesting rye whiskey. It’s smooth and very easy to drink. On the rocks, it is almost impossible to put down.

Although Basil Hayden is a relatively young whiskey brand, its roots are closely intertwined with the history of Kentucky distilling and it shares a whiskey DNA with some of America’s oldest bourbon expressions.

Cheers