Heaven's Door Tennessee Bourbon

I thought that this would be a good point to take a small break and write about something different. We're four albums in--the end of the "acoustic" era. The end of the "protest" era, more or less. Before we dig into a new stage of Dylan's career, let's talk about a recent one. Let's talk about Bob Dylan's signature whiskey.

I'm always reluctant to try a celebrity-branded whiskey. I'm afraid of one of two options. 1 - What if it sucks and I spent $50 on it? 2 - What if it's GREAT and they stop making it? So I had reservations about buying a bottle of Heaven's Door. To the first point, yes Dylan released "Blood on the Tracks," but what if this is more like his Christian period? To the second...oh, God...what if it's like "Blood on the Tracks?" And what if everybody else wants to listen to "Blonde on Blonde?"

Reservations aside, after I bought the Dylan box set, I stopped and picked up a bottle of the Heaven's Door Tennessee Bourbon.

It's "Blood on the Tracks."

Okay. I'm in no way a whiskey expert.  I've had a lot of them though.  Everything from a $20 bottle of Jack to a $200 bottle of Johnnie Walker.  (I didn't personally buy the latter--a friend generously poured me a shot.)  I've had most of the big name brands, a ton of the smaller ones, Irish, American, Scotch, Canadian, Japanese...  I've made it a point to find out what my favorite whiskeys are and to buy them for myself and serve them to others. But I don't know what the hell the words the experts throw around mean, nor do I know how to describe a "taste note" or whatever. All that to say that whatever I write below won't be a professional opinion. I only know enough to know that Bourbon doesn't come from Tennessee, so it's weird that he called it that. (But I don't care enough to dwell on that.)

The bottle itself is a nice design. Very straight, very smooth. It's tall and noticeable on the shelf. It feels good in your hand and looks cool. The front is adorned with art that represents Dylan's iron work. Did you know he does iron work? He welds and makes gates. Wouldn't have called that, would you?  Look at these things!

Bob at work. - Source: https://twentytwowords.com/bob-dylan-is-a-welder-and-he-makes-big-iron-gates-out-of-scrap-metal-5-pictures/ 

Work in progress. - Source: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9an4by/bob-dylan-towering-metalwork-archway

One of the gates with some lady. - Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/bob-dylan-musician-by-day-iron-welder-by-night/article15514074/

That the iron work is pretty faithfully reproduced in the bottle decals is a nice touch for those of us who are crazy enough to know about that.

When I opened the bottle for the first time the cork made one of the most satisfying "pop" sounds I think I've ever heard. (Only one that compares is the Connemara Irish Whiskey I bought a while back.) It's weird how the aesthetic of the sound the cork makes can inform the experience. A lot of people probably don't notice that. A lot of people are probably irritated that it's a cork and not just a twist off top, in fact. But that's a sign of a quality bottle to me--both that it's there and that it SOUNDS good.

Then I was hit with the smell. It's 90-proof so there's a strong alcohol smell, but you also get a sweetness in the scent. It smells nice. I'd wear it as cologne if that wouldn't make me seem like a sad drunk who smells like whiskey all the time. It's a good, rich smell--you know how it's going to taste as soon as it hits you.

After my first test-sip, I said "Wow!"  Then I took another sip and said, "WOOOOOOOW!" It's delicious. As described above when I was talking about the scent, it's got a sweetness that is undercut by the sour that you're used to from most whiskeys. I tasted a good amount of caramel and it was very warming on the first swallow. I'm going to use the word "smooth" to describe it even though that doesn't mean anything to me. It's a great whiskey that does a great job accompanying the music. (During my first sampling, "Another Side of Bob Dylan" was playing the whole time.) And for what it's worth, at 90-proof it does the job.

There are three varieties, and so for I've only had the one. The Tennessee Bourbon is all I can speak for at present, but the Double Barrel Whiskey and the Straight Rye Whiskey are both on my radar. The bottles are reasonably priced against others I enjoy of similar quality. (You'll pay about as much for say Four Roses or a good small batch.) The Rye is the most expensive for some reason. I've only gotten into Rye recently and prefer to use it as the whiskey in a Manhattan when I make one, so I'm very interested in trying Bob's soon. And when that happens, I'm sure you'll hear from me again.  (The Double Barrel might come to me first, just because it's cheaper.)

For those who were waiting to hear about a different album this week, I'm sorry for the change in topic. But I thought it might be fun to talk about and maybe a couple people who want to take the word of a whiskey guy about a bottle of whiskey might find it helpful.

I'll be back to the albums next time. Hope you enjoyed this one!

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(Source for the photo of the bottle--it wouldn't format well if I posted this as a caption: https://www.caskers.com/heaven-s-door-straight-tennessee-bourbon-whiskey/?/?utm_campaign=USC%20-%20Shopping&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=Cj0KCQiAk7TuBRDQARIsAMRrfUaht9_PrfaAr4gNo67M5Sln0QZpCD9xHewpi24JTrQLidyoeW4AL8oaAoKcEALw_wcB)