Bob Dylan Whiskey Announced

Vince Bucci/Invision/AP

Bob Dylan Whiskey Announced

Vince Bucci/Invision/AP

Bob Dylan is following in the footsteps of great artists like Drake, Willie Nelson, Darius Rucker, and Danny DeVito by entering the high-stakes world of the celebrity-owned spirits industry. The New York Times reports that the Nobel laureate has teamed up with liquor entrepreneur Marc Bushala to introduce his own collection of whiskeys called Heaven’s Door — a straight rye, a straight bourbon, and a “double-barreled” whiskey — which will go on sale next month.

“We both wanted to create a collection of American whiskeys that, in their own way, tell a story,” Dylan, a full partner in the business, told the Times in a statement. “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.” Adds his partner Bushala, “Dylan has these qualities that actually work well for a whiskey. 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.”

In the NYT article, Bushala describes the process of working with Dylan. “Sometimes you just get a long look, and you’re not sure if that’s disgust or approval.” Once, Dylan tasted a sample of the double-barreled whiskey and remarked that something was missing. “It should feel like being in a wood structure,” he said. His cryptic feedback, says Heaven’s Door Spirits chief operating officer Ryan Perry, “really helped us think about barrel finishing in a different way.”

The double barrel and Tennessee straight bourbon whiskeys are $60, while the straight rye costs $90. Orders start shipping May 21. Heaven’s Door has plans to open its own distillery in Nashville sometime next year.

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