Jump to content

Basil Hayden


TheBrownHound
This topic has been inactive for at least 365 days, and is now closed. Please feel free to start a new thread on the subject! 

Recommended Posts

3 hours ago, smokinjoe said:

Ha!  I'm a bad influence.  :lol:

My bottles were about $50 as well, before 6% sales tax.  

Well there goes my excuse!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Smokinjoe said, "Ha!  I'm a bad influence.  :lol:

My bottles were about $50 as well, before 6% sales tax."

 

And Steve responded,

 

22 hours ago, flahute said:

Well there goes my excuse!

 

Well, I passed if only because Pikesville Rye 110 proof is about the same price, and I KNOW I like it a lot.  So, why take the chance - in spite of joe.  OR, is joe spoofing us????  He laughing up his sleeve at us if we drink it?:wacko:

Edited by Harry in WashDC
To not P.O.joe, I added a smiley to show I'm teasing.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Harry in WashDC said:

Smokinjoe said, "Ha!  I'm a bad influence.  :lol:     So, why take the chance - in spite of joe.  OR, is joe spoofing us????  He laughing up his sleeve at us if we drink it?:wacko:

Smokinjoe's comments should always be suspected of having ulterior motives! As the titular head of the GBS, he is well versed in deceptive and dishonorable actions :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, y'aaaaallll...  ;)  I only call em as I see em. 

 

BTW, not sure I've been called a titular head before.  Dickhead ?  Plenty...  :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saw BH Rye while doing some shopping today. Same price as regular BH. :huh: Passed for now. <_<

 

Cheers! Joe

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A friend offered me a half pint of BH, so I politely accepted, knowing it would be thin, uninteresting, watery - overpriced.  I was in the middle of a fifth of OGD114 and have to say, I was shocked at how flavorful and addictive BH was, especially considering the low proof.  I also had some Booker's around the same time.  I cannot now believe that BH and Bakers are just watered down Booker's.  I re-learned a great lesson: don't believe everything you hear, and challenge the ostensible.  Is it worth $40?  Perhaps!  It is so smooth and flavorful, I'd classify it as a gateway for introducing bourbon to your oenophile friends.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, musekatcher said:

A friend offered me a half pint of BH, so I politely accepted, knowing it would be thin, uninteresting, watery - overpriced.  I was in the middle of a fifth of OGD114 and have to say, I was shocked at how flavorful and addictive BH was, especially considering the low proof.  I also had some Booker's around the same time.  I cannot now believe that BH and Bakers are just watered down Booker's.  I re-learned a great lesson: don't believe everything you hear, and challenge the ostensible.  Is it worth $40?  Perhaps!  It is so smooth and flavorful, I'd classify it as a gateway for introducing bourbon to your oenophile friends.  

I will say that while I like BH Rye it has not changed my opinion of regular BH bourbon, it still tastes like slightly older watered down OGD114.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, musekatcher said:

A friend offered me a half pint of BH, so I politely accepted, knowing it would be thin, uninteresting, watery - overpriced.  I was in the middle of a fifth of OGD114 and have to say, I was shocked at how flavorful and addictive BH was, especially considering the low proof.  I also had some Booker's around the same time.  I cannot now believe that BH and Bakers are just watered down Booker's.  I re-learned a great lesson: don't believe everything you hear, and challenge the ostensible.  Is it worth $40?  Perhaps!  It is so smooth and flavorful, I'd classify it as a gateway for introducing bourbon to your oenophile friends.  

 

Whilst Baker's is "watered down" Booker's (I have no idea about the respective ages and of course barrel selection and desired profile can be very different even when starting with the same mashbill) the BH is presumably slightly older "watered down" OGD, a different mashbill than Booker's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

 

Whilst Baker's is "watered down" Booker's (I have no idea about the respective ages and of course barrel selection and desired profile can be very different even when starting with the same mashbill) the BH is presumably slightly older "watered down" OGD, a different mashbill than Booker's.

 

Gotta make a correction:  I'm talking bourbon, not rye.  Just noticed the subgroup.  Back to sleep...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, musekatcher said:

 

Gotta make a correction:  I'm talking bourbon, not rye.  Just noticed the subgroup.  Back to sleep...

Well Basil Hayden Bourbon is what he was referring to as well, it is the same mashbill as OGD, high rye content, there is no OGD Rye whiskey. Bookers and Bakers would be the same mashbill, lower rye. And to confuse matters (and stay on topic somewhat) even further Basil Hayden Rye and Beam Rye are the same but Bookers Rye was different and higher rye which is somewhat counter intuitive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Well, I was excited to find the 2017 BH rye on the shelf at my local store.  $48 out the door.  I'm sorry to say, however, I don't like it.  

 

It it might be more accurate to say I don't care about it.  There's no nose and no flavor.  It's thin and light.  If Coors Light was a whiskey, this would be it.

 

I can't even imagine it would make a good cocktail, if you like the taste of whiskey in a cocktail anyway.

 

The most charitable thing I can say is it doesn't taste terrible.

 

For reference, I actually like BH bourbon.

 

  • I like it 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm. I thought the Booker's Rye mashbill was "lost"... It sounded like BS, but...

 

...if they know it, I'm calling on Beam to cease production on anything but Booker's and B Rye until at least 5 full rackhouses of each are put away!!!

 

if it's not clear by this point...I enjoyed it.

 

I'm not a buyer of BH rye at $50. I'd try it at $35. As Harry commented above, at $50 I'll head for Pikesville every time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Sour Mash Esq. said:

Well, I was excited to find the 2017 BH rye on the shelf at my local store.  $48 out the door.  I'm sorry to say, however, I don't like it.  

 

It it might be more accurate to say I don't care about it.  There's no nose and no flavor.  It's thin and light.  If Coors Light was a whiskey, this would be it.

 

I can't even imagine it would make a good cocktail, if you like the taste of whiskey in a cocktail anyway.

 

The most charitable thing I can say is it doesn't taste terrible.

 

For reference, I actually like BH bourbon.

 

My sentiments exactly on the BH rye. Just tried my first bottle. For the price, not enough nose and flavor going on to justify the price. As I posted over on the rye thread, if I had to say something positive about it, it's  light bodied, pretty smooth, even delicate.  But come on, this is American rye, it's supposed to grow hair where the sun don't shine. If I want delicate and light and elegant I'll go to something triple distilled like cognac or Irish whisky.

Edited by BourbonDude
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just tried my second pour of the BH rye. Picked up faint notes of caramel flavor, struggled to find anything else on the palate, but that's about it. Not much if any typical rye spicyness to speak of. Yeah, this is the Coors Light or "Colorado Coolade" of ryes like you said. 

Edited by BourbonDude
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coors light of Rye is a great description of BH Rye.

 

I've since picked up another bottle of Pikesville, and at $50 it really overshadows BH Rye. Hell, a bottle of MGP-sourced Dickle Rye or Ritttenhouse 100 overshadow BH Rye as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FWIW (and, since it is me, ANS. = Not worth much), I told the HH rep at the last WhiskyFest/Wash DC that I LOVE the fact they produce both Ritt and Pikesville, and he assured me both will be produced until somebody says stop.  I have one of each open and several of each in the bunker.  Depending on the cocktail I am making, I pick the HH rye that "fits".  I love OGD BIB (as you know), but I cannot figure out how BHRye "fits" in the rye universe.  After MGP 95%, Ritt and Pikesville, I am too old to devote a lot of time to a specialty offering.  But, that's just me. YMMV. 

+

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I tried Old Overholt for the first time over the weekend. It's easy to see the family resemblance to BH Rye, and I would say if you like Overholt, you'll probably like BH. That said, BH to me seems like a softer, smoother version of Overholt, but I'm not sure that means it's any better. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Leave it to Beam to roll out a new product that nobody is clamoring for. (Akin to answering the question that nobody is asking). They miss as much or more than they hit. Kind of like Brown-Forman (Cooper's Craft anyone?) 

These are the same people that know a good thing when they see it with Booker's Rye. Why they thought an 80 proof rye would be a hit in today's market is beyond me. Given the various fails with the recent Knob Creek releases one could assume that the Booker's 25th and Rye releases were pure luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, flahute said:

Leave it to Beam to roll out a new product that nobody is clamoring for. (Akin to answering the question that nobody is asking). They miss as much or more than they hit. Kind of like Brown-Forman (Cooper's Craft anyone?) 

These are the same people that know a good thing when they see it with Booker's Rye. Why they thought an 80 proof rye would be a hit in today's market is beyond me. Given the various fails with the recent Knob Creek releases one could assume that the Booker's 25th and Rye releases were pure luck.

 

AMEN!!  I get where some folks might think "Hey - Basil fans like lower proof, so let's stay there", but WTF ever happened to offering higher proof BHs?!  When we picked a KC barrel two years ago, he got us all geeked up with talks of a 90-something proof, and I thought the top end was going to be 107 (or 114 - but that could just be wishful remembering now).  I haven't bought a bottle of BH in years, but if they didn't get ridiculous on the pricing and offered a 107 proof BH - I'd be a blind buyer (and guessing that I'd be happy with the purchase).  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Today a store manager tried really hard to force some BH Dark Rye, and some other non-dark special version of BH rye on me. I didn't even know these existed, and as you can see, I didn't care enough to even look at the labels carefully. I really doubt it, but did I miss out?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Kane said:

Today a store manager tried really hard to force some BH Dark Rye, and some other non-dark special version of BH rye on me. I didn't even know these existed, and as you can see, I didn't care enough to even look at the labels carefully. I really doubt it, but did I miss out?

Seems unlikely that you missed out. I hadn't heard of it but a quick google brings up: https://www.bourbonblog.com/blog/2017/10/03/basil-haydens-dark-rye-whiskey/

 

"A Beam Suntory spokesperson describes, “This is a similar process as we use with the Alberta Dark Batch as the Dark Batch uses a small percentage of Old Grand-Dad blended with Canadian Rye and Sherry.”"

 

So it's similar to Alberta Dark Batch - I have a bottle of this and it isn't great. I've relegated it to vatting and cooking duties. Though amusingly enough I would say it is better than regular BH Rye, at least I can taste the rye in it!

 

I fully expect BH Dark Rye to be an underwhelming 80 proof blend of mediocre American Rye (BH), mediocre Canadian Rye, and mediocre Port.

 

In principal I like the idea of Beam-Suntory drawing stock from different sources like this, but they don't seem to really know what they're doing on this continent. In Japan it's another matter, where they produce things like Hibiki which is drawn from a number of different distilleries, and is excellent.

Edited by EarthQuake
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, EarthQuake said:

In principal I like the idea of Beam-Suntory drawing stock from different sources like this, but they don't seem to really know what they're doing on this continent. 

...you mean apart from producing and selling more bourbon than anybody else in the world? :) (unless we're counting JD as bourbon in this case)

 

They may miss on the high end enthusiast market, but that's not the side on which Beam's bread is buttered.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, The Black Tot said:

...you mean apart from producing and selling more bourbon than anybody else in the world? :) (unless we're counting JD as bourbon in this case)

 

They may miss on the high end enthusiast market, but that's not the side on which Beam's bread is buttered.

They do pretty well when they put the name Booker's on LEs. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems unlikely that you missed out. I hadn't heard of it but a quick google brings up: https://www.bourbonblog.com/blog/2017/10/03/basil-haydens-dark-rye-whiskey/
 
"A Beam Suntory spokesperson describes, “This is a similar process as we use with the Alberta Dark Batch as the Dark Batch uses a small percentage of Old Grand-Dad blended with Canadian Rye and Sherry.”"
 
So it's similar to Alberta Dark Batch - I have a bottle of this and it isn't great. I've relegated it to vatting and cooking duties. Though amusingly enough I would say it is better than regular BH Rye, at least I can taste the rye in it!
 
I fully expect BH Dark Rye to be an underwhelming 80 proof blend of mediocre American Rye (BH), mediocre Canadian Rye, and mediocre Port.
 
In principal I like the idea of Beam-Suntory drawing stock from different sources like this, but they don't seem to really know what they're doing on this continent. In Japan it's another matter, where they produce things like Hibiki which is drawn from a number of different distilleries, and is excellent.

Thanks for doing the research on that. I couldn't stomach the Dark Batch, now I know to quell my curiosity when I see the Dark Rye.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  • I like it 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Basil Hayden isn't bad bourbon, it's just not great bourbon. As others have previously stated (probably me too), it's under proofed and over priced. I think it's the marketing department's baby and they are really trying to push the upscale packaging. Has anyone seen the fancy new wood veneer tubes that Basil Hayden is being packaged in? Of course the bottle is still sealed with duct tape...reminds me of the old sayin' "like putting lipstick on a pig."


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.