A range of super-premium whiskeys launched by legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan is officially coming to the UK.
Introduced in the USA in 2018, Heaven’s Door was developed by Dylan with Chicago-based Spirits Investment Partnership (SIP), headed by Marc Bushala, as his first consumer brand partnership in his 60-year career.
Drinksology Group’s distribution and marketing arm, When We Are Giants, has become the whiskeys’ exclusive distributor for the UK and Ireland.
The whiskeys were created by Ryan Perry of Heaven’s Door Spirits and master distiller Jordan Via working with different US distilleries, but the company is preparing to open its own distillery in Nashville, Tennessee, in autumn 2020.
It takes its name from one of his best-known songs, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. The bottles feature welded iron gate designs that were created by Dylan – who is also a metalwork sculptor – in his studio, Black Buffalo Ironworks.
The UK line-up will be Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon and Heaven’s Door Straight Rye Whiskey – both priced at £75 per bottle – and Heaven’s Door Double Barrel Whiskey at £95. In the US, there is also a limited-release 10-year-old and the collectable Bootleg Series of small releases.
Mike Beavan, sales director of When We Are Giants, said: “With such an iconic name and award-winning spirit, we are delighted to be introducing the brand to the on- and off-trade. Early interest in Heaven’s Door has been fantastic.”
Available in 70cl bottles, all three whiskeys have won gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition along with other awards.
The 50% ABV Double Barrel Whiskey, which won double gold at San Francisco, is a blend of three different whiskeys aged for six years which come together in new American oak barrels for an extra year. It creates a complex character with notes of caramel, oak, citrus and spice.
Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon, at 42% ABV, features a mashbill high on rye with a blend of other “small” grains used to complement the character that comes from ageing in new American oak barrels. The bourbon is smooth with notes of vanilla and baked bread over toasted oak.
Heaven’s Door Straight Rye Whiskey, at 43% ABV, is aged in new, charred American oak barrels and then finished in small cigar-shaped oak barrels that have been made from wood harvested and air-dried in the low-lying mountain region of Vosges in France and then toasted. The result is a very smooth rye whiskey with notes of orange peel, coriander and spice.
When We Are Giants’ portfolio also includes Spirited Union Rum, Porter’s Gin, Jawbox Small Batch Gin, Kirker & Greer Irish Whiskey, Bowsaw American Whiskey, Braemble Liqueur and Tempted Irish Cider.
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