Heaven’s Door is a collaboration by owners Bob Dylan, Ryan Perry, and Marc Bushala who co-founded Angel’s Envy Bourbon. The start of this unlikely pairing came after Marc found out the music icon trademarked the term “bootleg whiskey” referencing the many music and live performances that have been viewed by the public through “bootleg” unoffical recordings. After approaching Dylan with their vision, they decided to name their collaboration Heaven’s Door, inspired from the fan favorite “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” song released in 1973. Today Bourbon Whiskey lovers can enjoy visiting their new distillery on a 160-acre property once owned by Daniel Boone’s brother in the appropriately named town of Pleasureville, Kentucky.

Heaven's Door The Bootleg Series Vol. V Bob Dylan — Instead of choosing popular Bourbon pairing options like cured ham or fatty cheese I went with music from an amazing album, *The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.*

While Heaven’s Door creates a variety of signature Whiskeys, the highlight in my opinion is their Bootleg Series that showcases the craftmanship of the distillery alongside extensive aging in a variety of unique oaks such as Japanese Mizunara oak, Jamican rum and Vino de Naranja casks, and Limousin oak cigar barrels. This 5th edition in the series is a straight Bourbon Whiskey aged 18 years in Spanish red vermouth casks. As you might expect from a 114 proof Bourbon Whiskey, there is ample concentration of bold aromas and assertive flavors here. The nose features a creamy vanilla nougat weight with fragrant cinnamon orange peel, spiced molasses cookie, dried apricot, rum raisin and fig. On the palate you’ll feel every drop of its 57% ABV intensity but while its warming and drying generosity may linger it transitions nicely into a sweet orange herbal depth imparted by the Spanish Vermouth Casks.

While many of us know Bob Dylan for his musical talents, his artistic expressions expand beyond guitar strings all the way toward a Nobel Prize in Literature awarded in 2016. His artworks have also been shown in gallery exhibits around the world including a metal sculpture piece installed on train tracks on the Château La Coste vineyard in Provence France. If that trip is a little too far for you luckily his sculptures are also featured on Heaven’s Door labels except for the Bootleg series.

Adorning this beautiful bottle by Anfora ceramic factory is artwork that was originally an acrylic on canvas painting titled No Vacancies from Dylan’s Beaten Path collection. This series focuses on the view seen during the many road tours across the country with an eye towards the Americana landscape of motels, farmyards, truck stops and shacks that move him. As the artist himself states in promotion of this collection displayed at the Halcyon Gallery in 2016, “The common theme of these works having something to do with the American landscape—how you see it while crisscrossing the land and seeing it for what it’s worth.”