The Heaven's Door whiskey bottles featuring Bob Dylan's ironwork designs. Image courtesy of Heaven's Door.
In his time, you imagine Bob Dylan has drunk his fair share of whiskey. Now he’s taken a step further from just drinking it (and singing about it), and has brought out his own brand. Called Heaven’s Door, it will feature an “ever-evolving portfolio of handcrafted whiskeys in collaboration with different master distillers and blenders from across the country [USA].” The “brand partnership” is in collaboration with Marc Bushala, a liquor entrepreneur.
“You don’t always find inspiration. Sometimes it finds you.” Dylan said in a press release. “We wanted to create a collection of American whiskeys that would each tell a story.”
Bob Dylan relaxing, having a drink during the recordings for his BBC concert on 1st June 1965. © Barrie Wentzell
The first collection is available now and costs around £45.00 a bottle. The batches, hand-crafted in small numbers, include a Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey, a Double Barrel Whiskey and Straight Rye Whiskey finished in oak barrels from Vosges, France, and air-dried for 3 years.
Along with that, each bottle features designs based on Dylan’s iron sculptures, the gates he welds in his metalworking studio called Black Buffalo Ironworks.
The seed of this Dylan-endorsed liquor started back in 2015 when Bushala heard that Dylan had registered a trademark for the name Bootleg Whiskey. After that Bushala sought out a meeting with the singer-songwriter, and through a mutual friend it happened. From there they decided on the idea of creating collections of craft whiskey which had Dylan’s ironwork designs on the bottles.
Bob Dylan performing onstage at the Salzburgarena, Salzburg, Austria in July 2012 as part of his Never Ending Tour. © Paolo Brillo
"Rather than make a single whiskey or work with one master distiller, we thought it would be far more interesting to work with various master distillers and blenders to make whiskeys that would each have their own unique signature," Bushala explains. "By working with different whiskey artisans for each new expression, the portfolio would be more diverse and eclectic.“
“We both wanted to create a collection of American whiskeys that, in their own way, tell a story," says Bob Dylan. "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.”
At Columbia Studios, New York 1963 Bob Dylan tunes his guitar during a recording session for his second studio album 'Free Wheelin'. © Don Hunstein
Dylan isn’t just endorsing Heaven’s Door either, but is a fully fledged partner in the company. After this collection, next year will see the company bring out The Bootleg Series, named after Dylan’s long-running boxsets of outtakes and alternate versions of his songs. And also a play on the name for illegally made whiskey. Instead of Dylan’s iron gates the bottles will feature Bob Dylan's much-praised paintings. Along with this, in 2019 the company will open a distillery, which will be open to the public for tours, in a 140-year-old church in Nashville.
You can buy the whiskey on the Heaven’s Door website.
Bob Dylan rehearsing for a live TV show at BBC TV Studios, Shepherds Bush, London during his 'Don’t Look Back’ tour. © Barrie Wentzell
Rockarchive is delighted to be able to offer these iconic Bob Dylan images along with many more as limited edition photographic prints which you can buy here.
Bob Dylan performing onstage at the Salzburgarena, Salzburg, Austria in July 2012 as part of his Never Ending Tour.
Bob Dylan performing live onstage at the Royal Albert Hall in London in November 2013.
Bob Dylan during his recording sessions for 'Highway 61 Revisited' at Columbia Studios in June 1965
An alternative version to the cover of the Bob Dylan Free Wheelin' album, which was similar, but also in colour.
"This image of Bob Dylan and bass player Tony Garnier, snatched at an open air concert in Italy, sums up a beautiful partnership."
Bob Dylan sitting with his girlfriend Suze Rotolo in their apartment in New York in February 1963
Bob Dylan and his band at the end of the second of three shows in London at Royal Albert Hall on November 26, 2013.
Bob Dylan rehearsing for the recording of his BBC In Concert show at BBC Studios, Shepherds Bush in London in June 1965
Bob Dylan relaxing and having a pint during the recordings for his BBC concert at BBC Studios in June 1965
Bob Dylan looks out of the window of the Roxy Hearts Diner in Portland, Oregon whilst on the second leg of his Gospel Tour in January, 1980
Bob Dylan hanging out on the streets of Portland, Orgeon prior to performing there as part of his Gospel Tour in January 1980.
Onstage in Montreal, Canada in April 1980 during Bob Dylan's Gospel Tour
Bob Dylan onstage at the Ahoy, Rotterdam in the Netherlands in June 1984.
Bob Dylan shot while recording his 5th studio album, Bringing It All Back Home, in Columbia Recording Studios in New York City 1965.
Bob Dylan recording the Freewheelin' album in Columbia Recording Studios, New York City in 1963.
Bob Dylan rehearsing to an empty house on the Carnegie Hall stage in New York city, 1963.
At Columbia Studios, New York 1963 Bob Dylan crouching with his guitar during a recording session for his second studio album 'Freewheelin''
Bob Dylan relaxing in the studio in Santa Monica in September 1980
Early set of contact sheet photos by Don Hunstein taken of Bob Dylan in his New York apartment on West 4th Street in 1963.
Barrie's work for Melody Maker from 1965 until 1975 covered one of the most important decades in the history of popular music.
Paolo Brillo took a passion to photography from a very young age, a passion that was combined with a love for music, especially rock music.
Don Hunstein has a knack for being in the right place at the right time, documenting many of the 20th Century’s most important musicians.
Bob Dylan is the first musician to get the Nobel Prize for Literature, and now you can listen to his is excellent Nobel Lecture for winning.
Bob Dylan isn’t just a Nobel prize winning singer-songwriter, he’s also an artist. In the sense that he’s a painter and sculptor.
Bob Dylan has paid tribute to fellow Traveling Wilburys member Tom Petty by covering the musician’s 1991 single “Learning To Fly".
Bob Dylan and The Polar Music Awards, Stockholm, May 2000 - words and pictures by Jill Furmanovsky
