Kentucky Straight Whiskey
Distilled and Bottled By
Kentucky Springs Distilling Co.
Clermont – Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Distilled and Bottled By
Kentucky Springs Distilling Co.
Clermont – Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
SCORE CARD
Shelf: Top Shelf
Price Range: $60 - $100
Proof: 80 proof
Age: 10 Years
Mash Bill: 63% corn, 27% rye, 10% malted barley
Color: Dark Amber
Nose: Soft nose with notes of sherry, honey, vanilla and toffee. Most pleasing.
Taste: Complex woody flavor followed peppery rye. Nice balance of corn, oak and rye. Not too sweet, not too bitter. The initial heat is deceptive – it's not the proof but the rye that brightens. Classic aged bourbon with rich oak flavors.
Value: Pricey -- P remium Bourbon – Not a Value bourbon
Score: 92
Cut to The Chase: Pricey, but a treat. Wish it were $60 a bottle, but then I wish cows could fly.
Price Range: $60 - $100
Proof: 80 proof
Age: 10 Years
Mash Bill: 63% corn, 27% rye, 10% malted barley
Color: Dark Amber
Nose: Soft nose with notes of sherry, honey, vanilla and toffee. Most pleasing.
Taste: Complex woody flavor followed peppery rye. Nice balance of corn, oak and rye. Not too sweet, not too bitter. The initial heat is deceptive – it's not the proof but the rye that brightens. Classic aged bourbon with rich oak flavors.
Value: Pricey -- P remium Bourbon – Not a Value bourbon
Score: 92
Cut to The Chase: Pricey, but a treat. Wish it were $60 a bottle, but then I wish cows could fly.
BOURBON NOTES
At 27% rye, this is a high rye bourbon. It doesn't drink like an 80 proof bourbon which usually can taste watered down and thin. Basil Hayden's Aged 10 Years is richly complex with notes of toffee, caramel, and oak. Very satisfying. I drink bourbon for exactly this kind of whiskey. Smooth, oaky, complex with a range of flavors. Also, I like a high rye, so this delivers on all fronts. Continues to evolve with a strong finish. Since this is Aged 10 Years, there is a lot of more oak, but oak is the key to any great bourbon, and this is no exception.
It's nice to have a 10 year expression of the iconic Basil Hayden's Straight Kentucky Whiskey. Feels like I snuck into the rickhouse late at night when no one was around and sampled something very special that only the master distillers have been enjoying for years. Now, they've shared it with us and hats off to Basil Hayden's, and Jim Beam, for letting us sample a more aged mature Basil Hayden's. I hope they make this more available on the shelves. I also hope Jim Beam will continue to dig deep into their rickhouses and release older more mature bourbons. This is a homerun over the fence and into another county.
PS. I also want to thank Jim Beam for using a "plastic stopper." While a cork stopper has a lot of nostalgia and tradition, cork doesn't age well. Cork shrink and can allow a lot of alcohol to evaporate. While I appreciate the Angel's Share when I'm at a distillery, I don't really want to share any of my whiskey with the angels at my house. This plastic stopper prevents evaporation – period. With a lot of us putting together serious bourbon collections, we want our whiskey to be around awhile, and these tight plastic stoppers will keep all of our whiskey in the bottle. Sorry angels, but you've got the great state of Kentucky to get your share.
Reviewed by: Jack Epps, Jr.
Send comments to: BourbonNotes@gmail.com
It's nice to have a 10 year expression of the iconic Basil Hayden's Straight Kentucky Whiskey. Feels like I snuck into the rickhouse late at night when no one was around and sampled something very special that only the master distillers have been enjoying for years. Now, they've shared it with us and hats off to Basil Hayden's, and Jim Beam, for letting us sample a more aged mature Basil Hayden's. I hope they make this more available on the shelves. I also hope Jim Beam will continue to dig deep into their rickhouses and release older more mature bourbons. This is a homerun over the fence and into another county.
PS. I also want to thank Jim Beam for using a "plastic stopper." While a cork stopper has a lot of nostalgia and tradition, cork doesn't age well. Cork shrink and can allow a lot of alcohol to evaporate. While I appreciate the Angel's Share when I'm at a distillery, I don't really want to share any of my whiskey with the angels at my house. This plastic stopper prevents evaporation – period. With a lot of us putting together serious bourbon collections, we want our whiskey to be around awhile, and these tight plastic stoppers will keep all of our whiskey in the bottle. Sorry angels, but you've got the great state of Kentucky to get your share.
Reviewed by: Jack Epps, Jr.
Send comments to: BourbonNotes@gmail.com