193. Basil Hayden Toast Review

Welcome to another trip down the Bourbon Road with your hosts Jim and Mike. So grab a glass of your favorite bourbon and kick back.

Hello everybody. I'm Jim Shannon. And I'm Mike Hyatt. This is the Bourbon Road. Today, Mike, it's another craft distillery Monday. We're down here in my basement bar. Big Jim Shannon's barn lounge. It's not going to hold a candle to the Bourbon Road barn lounge at Bourbon on the Banks this year though.

Yeah, that'll be pretty badass. What Jim's talking about, we're going to be at Bourbon on the banks on October 23rd. You want to come hit us up there, have some whiskey with us, have some good times. Heck, you might even get on a podcast that day because we're going to have our recording equipment with us. So go ahead and come on out and visit us. Tickets for that are $65, but we're doing a giveaway, Jim.

You might not have to pay anything.

Yeah. So pay attention to our Instagram and our Facebook group to see how you can win tickets to that event.

But if you're itching and you can't wait, you just need to get the job done, bourbononthebanks.org.

Yeah.

All right, Mike, what do we have on the show today?

Man. So we have a rebranded whiskey out there right now. It's hit the shelves. Not a whole lot of reviews on it, Jim.

We're pretty early to the game on this one.

I've been hard on this brand right here. I've been super hard on this brand because I thought it was kind of overpriced for what you got. I thought the bottling of it before was kind of ugly.

I think they listened to you. You think I think you had something to do with my influencer, Jim on a company.

You're, you're an influencer, Mike, no doubt about it. So what we're drinking is a basil Hayden, not basils. They changed it on us. Jim chain name change, name change. So basil Hayden toasted or toast. They just call it toast, right? Yeah. You want to say toasted. Cause it's all about the toasted barrel, right? Well, this one might be a little bit about toasted rice, some brown rice to be exact.

So the cat's out of the bag. You already let it out before we even tasted the whiskey, but Basil Hayden is not just a new name. It's not just a new bottle and a new label and a new look. Also new mash bill.

Yeah.

So different on this one.

Um, and we haven't tasted it yet. We just cracked this bottle open. So new cork, like Jim said, a new label. I like this label a little bit better. We were talking about it in the break and it's actually glued to the bottle. So it's not like peeling off their stuff. like that paper apron they used to have on the old bottle right and the band on this sucker is so much more beautiful it kind of does look like a barrel ring if you look at it the bh on there is a little bit bigger um man this is pretty nice bottle yeah it's a good looking bottle it'll look nice on your bar no doubt about it so

We'll get into the price and the more specifics about it, but we do need to get right to the whiskey, Mike. Yeah, most certainly. All right, so we've got this poured and this has been in our glass about 10 minutes. Yeah. So it's had a chance to just acclimate to the room here and open up a little bit. So Opened a bottle, poured it from the neck, two glasses, sitting about 10 minutes. I'm ready to check it out.

Well, I don't even know to say cheers on this. I say, let's say cheers to old granddad. Cheers old granddad. Cause that's who Basil Hayden is. He is. He's old granddad. Yeah. Cheers. Cheers.

That's sweeter than I remember. It does still have a little bit of a bite to it on the nose. Not too much. It's a little more sweet.

I'm getting sour, sweet and sour skittles, sour skittles.

Yeah.

A lot of fruiting is like you said, that sweetness is coming through some floral aromas, that toasted, not so marshmallow-y on this one.

So we all know that, you know, kind of the toasted barrel effect is to add more wood sugars, more sweetness to a whiskey, right? I would say they've accomplished that, at least on the nose. I'm not getting a lot of age to this. This is probably not an older whiskey, but it's a well-aged whiskey.

Not a lot of fruitiness. Now as the older Basil, Basil's Hayden, Basil Hayden's, um, it was 80 proof. They kept that with this 80 proof. That's what they got kind of get hit up on.

Um, yeah. And you know, you keep complaining folks about Basil Hayden's being 80 proof, but they're not going to change it.

Well, another thing is that a lot of people do love this whiskey because of that proof. Not everybody's like us that, Hey, let's drink this stuff at 120 proof and have a good old time. Man, the sweetness on this just is there.

I'm ready to taste it. Let's do it. Cheers. Cheers. Very sweet, very easy on the palate. There's no impact there. There's no wow factor. It's not going to blow you away with some kind of fiery on the tongue experience. Nice and simple, soft and sweet is what I would say.

That toast is there. No spice to it. Barely at all. Maybe the little bit of white pepper on it. Uh, not a, just a tad bit of spice. What would you call that? A pinch of pepper?

Yeah, just a pinch. And I like the term white pepper. I think white pepper probably describes it best. It's not very aggressive. A little bit of spice there. It's a, it's sweet with a wash of cool, smooth whiskey across the tongue. It's not, uh, aggressive in any way.

Now, if they did toast that right there, that rice in it, right? When I drink this, You know, when you drink a smoked, uh, peated Scotch whiskey, you get that little bit of smoky flavor on it. Yeah. I get that. And that's just a little bit of smokiness on that backend. Then, uh, it kind of pairs nicely with that sweetness.

Well, I have to say that, you know, the impact of the rice is not earthshaking. In other words, you're not, you're not going to go, ooh, rice, right? You're just going to, it's almost like you, you miss, you've, you sense the absence of the rye, but it's not like you sense the presence of the rice. Does that make sense? Perfectly.

Um, I don't, I kind of liked this, Jim. I'm thinking this pair beautifully with a scutery board.

Yeah, I would say that this is going to appeal to a larger, wider audience than the previous match bill.

Most certainly. And you know, this is Freddy's right here. Yeah. This is, we know that for a fact.

This is the eighth generation working at the steel. This is good stuff.

Now, Freddy, if you're listening to us, man, if you had anything to do with the branding on this, the marketing on this, We know you had something to do with the whiskey inside of it. You did a fabulous job on it. Hats off from us to you at the Bourbon Road. Man, I'm glad I bought this. Now, Jim, I picked this up for $49.99. Uh, no, I was lucky to get it. They are hard to come by right now because it's a new kid on the street, right? Right.

Right. Um, but it, but it's available. I mean, this is a, this is a bottle that is not going to be limited, right? Too much.

I could see the toasted, the toast being a little bit more limited as in like Elijah Craig toasted. That's a little bit harder to come by than some of the other ones, but I would tell you this. I'd buy another bottle of this because I think we're going to drink this pretty fast.

You know, we, we both love barbecue.

We both love charcuterie boards and I would say this is something to kick back and enjoy and relax on a hot summer day.

Yeah, this is a summer sipper and we got a little bit of summer left, less than a month. And, um, you know, you still got time to pull out those bottles that you call summer sippers and, and enjoy them before the weather turns cool. Uh, this is definitely one of those bottles. I'm getting a little bit of, uh,

sauteed pears on this. Now, as I sit in a glass, I've sipped on a little bit. I always like to thinly slice some pears and saute them in a pan, put some heavy whipping cream in there, put a little bit of honey in there.

I haven't sauteed any pears lately, but it sounds pretty darn good.

And then put a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top of that. One of my favorite dishes to make, but I get that sauteed pear in there.

Well, when you look at the work Freddie has done on the Little Book series, his blending that he's done in the Little Book series, and then you take a look at this Basil Hayden toast. You can tell that he's doing his own thing. He's stepping out of the box a little bit. We've got a Rice Mashbill, right? Yeah. This is a historical brand, historical figure who has his name on it. And you know what? He's playing with a Mashbill. He's trying new things. I think it's the way of the future for James B beam.

Well, it's the way of the future for Freddie. Cause you know, eventually his dad will step down and he will become the only master distiller there. So so beautiful of a kind of upbringing and a lineage, but he's got to make his own legacy there. And it's with things like this right here that he's going to make that legacy. Now, folks, what we're talking about is the Basil Hayden toast newly released in a new bottle. New label, still at 80 proof though, right?

New mash bill.

Now let's not get this wrong. It does have a rice mash bill, a brown rice mash bill that's supposedly toasted, but it's still Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey.

Yeah. I mean, it's got to have 51% corn in it. The flavoring grains are neither here nor there, right? Yeah. You know, it's still qualifies as a bourbon. You know, this, you know, let's talk about the color on it a little bit. Kind of light. It's going to be a little bit lighter, right?

Well, I think, you know, this be one of, uh, one of Freddie's greatest accomplishments to date is this bottle right here.

Yeah. I have to say that, you know, historically, um, now Randy, uh, your predecessor, he was a Basil Hayden fan, Basil Hayden's, the older version, Basil Hayden's fan. Uh, he liked it a lot. Me,

You know, kind of wasn't my thing.

You know, never really got my attention. I had it a few times, but chose to drink other things. This, on the other hand, I have to say, has got my attention.

what's something new and it's something we've been asking for. You know, we've asked for things like that, you know, things that we've asked for in the past. Um, ever we have even said, Hey, we believe it needs to be at higher proof, but let's get real. More people will drink whiskey at that 80 proof range. Any of us whiskey nerds that are drinking at 120 proof range, when it comes down to bottom dollar, they're going to sell out more of this. So Jim, what's your final thoughts on the Basil Hayden toast?

I would say if you see it on the shelf, you should grab a bottle of it. I think $50 is a fair price for something that's new and different. I think that the reinvented brand, I don't know, it has been rebranded a little bit. They've changed the name, they've changed the label, they've changed the look of the bottle, they changed the mash bill. It's a new whiskey.

Yeah. I mean, the almost a 100% overhaul on the brand itself. Um, but they're not charging any more money for it. And that's the beautiful thing about it. I got a hats off to them for not doing that. I hope I don't see a price increase on this. They put a little tag on it too, a little toasted. I don't know what that is. The hanging tag, like a little toasted a barrel head on it. Um, Overall, for me, it's got that kind of a medium finish on it. You know, it's not a long finish. It's not a, you know, it's there still at the 80 proof because it is 80 proof. It's not watery, but it's not going to stick to your palate like it should, I think. Um, but still a great whiskey to sip in the summertime, sip in the springtime, early fall. Um, like I said, pair perfectly with a charcuterie board. If you're having a party or something, this would be a beautiful bottle to bust out and say, Hey, let's drink something pretty special tonight. Let's uh, let's drink this for some people that might not, um, necessarily drink whiskey like we do.

Right?

Wine drinkers.

I would say it's a beautiful bottle. If you've got room on your shelf, you should add it to your bar. I think if you've got a friend who enjoys whiskey, I think that this would make a great gift. It is a new profile. It tastes different. It's not the same Basil Haydn's that you're used to. This is the new Basil Haydn and it's different. It's got a new mash bill, new bottle, new look, new everything. It's a new whiskey.

Yeah, most certainly in our photo for this bottle, I'll make sure I put some of the older bottles lined up behind it. So you want to check that out and stuff. So Jim, where can people find us on the, uh, social media?

You can find us on Instagram, tick tock, YouTube, Facebook, find us on our website, the bourbon road.com, where we every week put out two episodes. We put out a blog. Mike writes a great blog every week, not always about the show. Sometimes it's just what he's got on his mind, but always a great blog. You should, you should check them out. Uh, and on that website, you will also find, what do they find out there, Mike?

Well, you can find our bourbon swag on there. The bourbon road swag that is, uh, the bourbon bullshitter t-shirt, our bourbon road shirt, our hat, our glasses. Uh, we're about to have some news. swag on there that you want to want to check out some stuff for traveling, Jim, some stuff to get you to work in the morning that you maybe you could put some coffee in. Yeah. So you would want to check that out. Um, you can find our reviews on there that Adam Boothby helps us out with. Um, man, do we have a great team of bourbon roadies, Jim?

And we need to make sure everybody understands that. It's not just Mike and I. It's a team of people that work together to make sure that this show gets out every week. And they work hard. They do a good job. Our moderators, the Adam who writes some of the blogs, it's just a great group of people.

Well, shout out to those guys. I'm always texting them. I know Adam's talking to you quite often about our website and stuff. But we got Jason Lawler in South Carolina. We got Drew Allen over in Memphis. Those are our moderators of the bourbon roadies. I got old Forrest Gump, Matt King. He's kind of one of my bourbon insiders. Ashley Barnes, I text her a lot about information. Ariel Yahn from Woodville Whiskey. I could just keep naming people out. Jeremy Holloman down in Nashville. We got Todd Ritter dripping barrel over in Frankfurt. People keeping us honest, keeping us on the road, helping out in the bourbon roadies, keeping the bourbon roadies going. 2,300 people strong.

Yeah, man.

That's a good number of people.

It's an awesome thing. It's an awesome thing.

And here's the nice thing about the bourbon roadies. If you don't like other groups that have rudeness in it, that have people in there that'll put you down, you don't have that crap in the bourbon roadies, do we?

That's right. So private Facebook group, The Bourbon Roadies, real easy. Go onto Facebook, in the search bar type The Bourbon Roadies. Guarantee it'll come up. Just ask to join. Come on in. We'll welcome you in like family and let the conversation begin.

Oh, certainly. So the other thing we need you to do for us to help us down a bourbon road, to help us open the doors, to help expand our reach is to go ahead and hit that subscribe button up top and then scroll on down and hit that five star review. Cause you know what'll happen if you don't.

Oh my goodness.

My alter ego, the big bad booty daddy of bourbon will come over to your house. We'll bring some of this basil Hayden toast with us that we just reviewed. with us, we'll crack a bottle of it open. We'll drink it. By the end of that night, you're going to want to leave us that five-star. I will have you laughing. I have you singing. I'll have you dancing. We're going to have a great time. But please leave us that five-star review. That's what opens those doors up for me and Jim. It gets us in there, lets us do great shows, great content to get you up and down the road with us. 30 minutes to work, 30 minutes back, right Jim?

Yeah, except on Mondays, right? We'll get you to work. We'll get you to work. We'll get you halfway to work anyway.

And then on the way back from work, you're going to want to stop by your favorite liquor store and pick up the bottle we reviewed. Absolutely.

So like, like we're kind of hitting that here, you know, we do two shows a week. We do a short episode every Monday. where we kind of explore, we call it Craft Distillery Monday. We explore an expression, we talk about a single expression. In this case, it's not a craft distillery, it's a bigger distillery. But it's a new release that we wanted to talk about. We would certainly love to have you listen to both shows every week, our long episode on Wednesday and our short episode on Mondays. And we would also like to hear what you think we should do next. You can always reach out to us on the website on our Contact Us page. You can always email Mike and I. I'm jim at the bourbonroad.com. He's mike at the bourbonroad.com. But as we say, probably the best way to reach out to us is to hit our DM on Instagram. I'm jshannon63. I'm OneBigChief. And we'll see you down the Bourbon Road.

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