STS Bar and Grill: Basil Hayden’s
Bourbon is just outside my wheelhouse. I drink scotch mostly, but I like bourbon enough that I usually have at least one bottle in the cabinet. On a couple of recent backcountry trips Basil Hayden’s bourbon has ben the whiskey that earned the nod. Bringing it has become a bit of a habit and I don’t feel bad about abandoning one of my favorite single malts.
Straight from Kentucky, it is one of the lightest bodied whiskeys in Beam’s family of small batch bourbons. At 40% abv, it is on the low end of the alcohol scale, leading to very little bite from the alcohol itself. Once I get past the candy corn taste, that always hits me when I switch from scotch to bourbon, Basil Hayden’s is smooth and buttery on the tongue. Good over ice or straight, I find it a perfect complement to a good day fishing in the mountains.
Hmmm….sweet and smooth and spicy… or. feeling like I’ve fallen face-down in a peat pile? I’ll take door #1, Bob!
: )
If door #1 is taken I’ll happily go with door #2. Both have their place in my book!
Ha – agreed. There are definitely some Scotches that I enjoy – Balvenie Doublewood being one of my favorites. But I’ve also developed a (highly biased) theory that, in general, masochists are drawn to Scotch, and hedonists are drawn to Bourbon. All in jest, of course…
If you ever find a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle’s 20-Year Reserve, grab it. I think the whole state of Wyoming gets 3 bottles/year.
Although I tend towards a nice, young yaeger-bomb in the morning, I’ll have to try this Basil Hayden that you speak of. It sounds zippy.
Yaeger-bomb is clearly the better choice and it has more zip!