The new Heaven’s Door line of whiskeys will look to push the boundaries of innovation, just as co-founder Bob Dylan did in music.
The inaugural release, crafted by master distiller Ken Pierce and master blender Alex Moore, takes five-year-old Tennessee straight Bourbon and finishes it in Calvados casks and medium-heavy toasted oak staves.
“Our new medium-heavy toasted French oak staves bring forth balanced complexity and enhanced aroma, culminating in a dark colour and a smoother, creamier mouthfeel, providing a truly enriched flavour experience,” Moore said.
The brand will release two expressions in the range each year. Exploration Series 1 is bottled at 54% ABV and priced at US$80.
The limited edition whiskey has notes of fresh cider and baked apple from the Calvados casks, while the toasted staves impart brown sugar, caramel, and biscuits. It is available at the Heaven’s Door website and select retailers nationwide.
In July 2023, Heaven’s Door added Ascension, a Kentucky straight Bourbon, to its core lineup, while earlier in the year, it announced that it was preparing to open its 160-acre distilling campus in Pleasureville, Kentucky after starting development in 2017.
The producer named Paragon Brands as its UK distributor last summer, taking over from When We Are Giants.
The brand has previously experimented with Islay whisky casks for its Bootleg Series and Irish whiskey casks from Redbreast.
Dylan launched his first whiskey in 2018 in collaboration with Angel’s Envy Bourbon founder Marc Bushala.