Late final 12 months, Basil Hayden dropped its newest version, which will probably be a everlasting a part of the Basil Hayden lineup going ahead. Basil Hayden Malted Rye is made with 100% rye grain that has been malted, which partially germinates the grain earlier than it’s dried and made right into a mash that’s fermented.
Because it does with barley, malting rye grain considerably adjustments the best way a distilled spirit seems, enhancing the distillation course of and altering the flavour of the completed product.
On this expression, the overbearing, peppery pungency so widespread with rye is all however absent, making a softer whiskey that melds grassiness with sweeter, dessert-like notes. The nostril sees an preliminary whiff of minimize grass, rosemary, and sage, but it surely’s minimize with aromas of black cherry, vanilla, and mint. Once more: mushy, restrained, and composed.
The palate supplies many of those similar qualities, once more a modestly inexperienced assault, with a punch of contemporary garden trimmings, extra sage, and black tea. The tea is what takes over because it builds on the tongue, shifting from there into notes of vanilla custard, toasted coconut, and a smattering of baking spices. More and more nutty because the end builds. As I stated earlier, what actually units this aside is how mushy and approachable it’s. That throat-charring high quality that the majority fashionable ryes — particularly 100% ryes — have is wholly absent, making room for a brown sugar and nougat-laden expertise that drinks nearer to the bourbon facet of the spectrum. That’s all high quality with me. I’ve encountered no scarcity of in-your-face rye whiskeys lately, to the purpose the place I’m actively uninterested in them. These things hits the spot.
80 proof.
A- / $60 / basilhaydenbourbon.com
Basil Hayden Malted Rye
$60
