You spoke, Basil Hayden listened. Subtle Smoke, a delicate bourbon expression from 2022, is back by popular demand. The re-run gives enthusiasts who missed out on this limited-edition whiskey a second chance to score a milder smoky alternative to the peat bombs you’d expect from someplace like Islay.
Basil Hayden Subtle Smoke
Basil HaydenBasil Hayden Subtle Smoke
By all accounts, the original Subtle Smoke was a smash hit. Those who scored a bottle found a bourbon that took a different approach to smoked whiskey.
Instead of smoking the grains prior to distilling them, Basil Hayden didn’t introduce any smoke in the distilling process at all, opting instead to finish the whiskey for six weeks in toasted and lightly charred barrels that were pumped full of hickory smoke.
The response was pretty tremendous, with the brand claiming $1.9 million in sales over the six-month period in which the $50 bottle was on shelves.
The result was a whiskey far more subtly smoked and less harsh than, say, an Islay Scotch. The response was pretty tremendous, with the brand claiming $1.9 million in sales over the six-month period in which the $50 bottle was on shelves.
Basil Hayden originally intended for Subtle Smoke to be a one-time release, but then a funny thing happened. Those who tried it wanted more, and those who hadn’t tried wanted their chance to do so. So Basil Hayden did something that’s all too rare in the enthusiast space: It brought back Subtle Smoke for another run.
