Basil Hayden Malted Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Basil Hayden Malted Rye
(Credit: Beam Suntory)

Each member of the seminal Jim Beam Small Batch Collection is now the center of its own brand line-up, and three of the four have had rye whiskeys either as limited editions or regular extensions. But of those three, I think the most appropriate to have rye whiskey attached to its brand name is Basil Hayden. When the Small Batch Collection came into being in the early 1990s, Basil Hayden was the eight year old, premium version of the Old Granddad high rye bourbon.

While these four expressions each became the center of their own little universe, American Whiskey changed around them and with them. First came the Rye Craze of the early 2010s, hand in glove with the craft whiskey boom. These two forces gave rise to an interest in malted rye, with the first 100% malted rye I became familiar with being the Old Maysville Club from Old Pogue. Several years later, Basil Hayden has come around to the idea.

The Whiskey
First, it’s been a while since I handled a full bottle of Basil Hayden, and one of my complaints was the cheapness and flimsiness of the copper belt that used to ride around the waist of the bottle. That has been addressed. It’s now a robust adornment that won’t slide around, run the label and possibly cause you to drop the bottle. Basil Hayden Malted Rye is bottled at 80 proof, and in a departure from the Kentucky rye style, it is indeed a 100% malted rye.

With its dull copper look, the pour instantly tells you its in the Basil Hayden vein: it suggest a light bodied, dry whiskey. The nose dives right into that character: caramel and toasted biscuit, accented in cinnamon and citrus zest. The liquid is light and silky on the palate, the last being the surprise. It isn’t dry at all. A little molasses, a little toasty biscuit and a little lemon. You really need to let it sit on the palate and roll it over, because it isn’t the full-bodied kind of whiskey that rushes out to meet you. That dry finally makes its appearance with a spice and sandalwood kick at the end, but even that kick comes in light, and is really more like a nudge of the foot.

This Basil Hayden really is unlike any other 100% malted rye I’ve had before. Some common elements are there, but most are absent, so I can say Beam really is working some its magic to make their expression distinctive. It’s a lovely, light-bodied sipper. I urge you to never put it in a cocktail, where its character will be lost. Instead, trot this bottle out in spring and autumn, when there is no need for ice, on those occasions when you don’t want your whiskey to put hair on your chest.

The Price
The MSRP for a bottle of Basil Hayden Malted Rye is $60.