Bob Dylan launches his own brand of whiskey

Music legend Bob Dylan has entered the craft spirits business with the release of Heaven's Door whiskey.

Dylan has teamed up with former Angel's Envy owner Marc Bushala to create a collection of three whiskeys — a straight rye, a straight bourbon and a “double-barreled” whiskey. 

“We both wanted to create a collection of American whiskeys that, in their own way, tell a story,” Dylan told The New York Times. “I’ve been traveling for decades, and I’ve been able to try some of the best spirits that the world of whiskey has to offer. This is great whiskey.”

“Dylan has these qualities that actually work well for a whiskey,” Bushala said. “He has great authenticity. He is a quintessential American. He does things the way he wants to do them. I think these are good attributes for a super-premium whiskey as well.”

Dylan isn't just lending his name to the whiskey, he's a full partner in this business and helped craft its unique flavour.

Bushala recalled to the NYT that at one point during the process, Dylan tasted a sample of the double-barreled whiskey and said something was missing.

“It should feel like being in a wood structure,” he commented.

Bushala was left to decode the remark, which led him to experiment with how he toasted the barrels in which the whiskey is aged.

Months later, he returned with a sample that he felt embodied “that sweet, musty smell of a barn. Dylan gave it the thumbs up.

The first batches of Heaven’s Door were developed with Jordan Via, formerly of the Breckenridge Distillery, and experimented with novel finishes. The rye, for example, was aged in cigar-shaped oak barrels made from wood harvested in the Vosges region of France.

The bottles themselves feature a depiction of iron gates that were created by Dylan at his metalworking shop, Black Buffalo Ironworks. They are comprised of found objects collected from farms and scrap yards across America: “everything from farm equipment, children’s toys, kitchen utensils and antique fire arms to chains, cogs, axes and wheels.”

Heaven's Door goes on sale in the US next month.