Events

Basil Hayden is named after a famous distiller, Basil "Old Grand Dad" Hayden Sr. Hayden was a pioneer in the late 18th century for using a higher amount of rye in his bourbon mashbill than was the custom of the time. His grandson, Raymond, founded a distillery two generations later and named it "Old Grand Dad" with a picture of Basil on the label. When Jim Beam acquired Old Grand Dad in 1987, they now owned the likeness of Basil Hayden, and in honor of him, founded the Basil Hayden line as the high-rye line of Jim Beam. Basil Hayden is the low-proof, high age line, while Old Grand Dad is the low age, higher proof line.