Bob Dylan’s whiskey label is now available in the UK

Heaven’s Door Spirits, the whiskey label co-owned by folk legend Bob Dylan, is now launching in the UK.

Dylan launched his own brand of Tennessee whiskey called Heaven’s Door in 2018, named after his 1973 hit that was later famously covered by Guns n’ Roses in 1987.

And now, the whiskey label is Tangled Up In a deal with When We Are Giants, the distribution and marketing arm of Drinksology, which means Heaven’s Door’s three core whiskeys will be sold in the UK.

Mike Beavan, When We Are Giants’ sales director, said there has already been “fantastic” interest in listing the whiskeys. They are currently available on Master of Malt and the Whiskey Exchange.

“This is an exciting milestone for us as we bring Heaven’s Door to the UK where Bob Dylan kicked off his first ever European tour more than 55 years ago,” said Marc Bushala, CEO of Heaven’s Door Spirits.

The 76-year-old singer and Nobel laureate  teamed up with liquor entrepreneur Bushala, who was also the co-founder of Kentucky Straight Bourbon “Angel’s Envy”, to release his own line of whiskies in April 2018.

The partnership came about after Bushala noticed that Dylan had filed a trademark application of “bootleg whiskey”, and contacted the singer to make his pitch. The rest soon followed.

There are three in the range: a Tennessee Bourbon and Straight Rye Whiskey, which both have an RRP of £75 per 700ml, and a Double Barrel Whiskey priced at £95 per bottle.

Beavan said: “We are really excited to be adding Heaven’s Door to our portfolio of premium spirits. 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.”

The deal comes as Heaven’s Door’s parent company, Spirits Investment Partnership (SIP), prepares to open a distillery dedicated to producing the brand’s whiskeys in Nashville, Tennessee, later this year.

At the moment, the whiskeys are made elsewhere in the US, but are all tied to Tennessee in various stages of production either via distillation, ageing, barrel finishing or bottling.

SIP is converting Nashville’s Elm Street Church into the Heaven’s Door Distillery and Center for the Arts, which will house a performance place, a whiskey library, a restaurant, the still house itself, and an art centre that houses paintings and metalwork sculptures created by Dylan. The renovation is set to be completed this year.