Basil Hayden's Bourbon (75cl, 40%)

Basil Hayden's is a high-rye Kentucky straight bourbon, made at the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont and bottled at 40% in a 750ml bottle. The mash is 63% corn, 27% rye and 10% malted barley, roughly twice the rye of Jim Beam's standard recipe. It is double distilled, through a column still and then a copper doubler, and aged in new charred American oak. The brand takes its name from Basil Hayden Sr., an 18th-century Maryland farmer who favoured high-rye whiskey. The nose combines charred oak, vanilla and caramel with peach, orange zest and white pepper. On the palate it is light-bodied, with brown sugar and ripe berries giving way to black pepper and gentle peppermint. The finish is of moderate length, with oak, dried fruit and a warming spice.