This is the latest version of Basil Hayden Rye Whiskey. It is 100% malted rye. This is not the first version of 100% malted rye on the market, as Old Maysville Club from the Old Pogue Distillery has been a 100% malted rye mash bill for several years, but this is new to the Basil Hayden brand. It is an interesting whiskey, but I think it suffers from the low proof. I would like to see it at least at 86 proof. However, Jim Beam designed the Basil Hayden brand to appeal to Canadian whiskey drinkers, thus the 80 proof point on all of the Basil Hayden expressions. I recently picked up a bottle of Basil Hayden Malted Rye and Matt and I sat down to taste it the other day. Here are our tasting notes.
Basil Hayden Malted Rye Whiskey
Proof: 80
Age: No Age Statement
Nose:
- Mike: A very light nose. Rye grass, vanilla, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Vanilla, banana, cream and sugar, oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Rye grass, vanilla, cardamom and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and citrus notes and cinnamon come out in the taste. Tasted with a pecan and the vanilla becomes a caramel.
- Matt: Vanilla, bananas, wild berries, baking spice and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out a vanilla wafer flavor. The pecan brought out caramel.
Finish:
- Mike: Short with oak wood and cardamom. The dried cranberry made the finish medium long with oak wood and cinnamon. The pecan made the finish medium long with oak wood and caramel.
- Matt: Short with oak wood and baking spice. The dried cranberry added banana to the finish. The pecan made the finish medium long with oak wood, banana and lingering caramel.
I would pair this Rye Whiskey with a mild cigar. I would reach for an Oliva Connecticut wrapper cigar.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller