Bob Dylan is launching a whiskey brand

Yesterday we discussed how Diana Kennedy is showing no signs of slowing down at age 95. Today, in another instance of not resting on one’s laurels, we learned that songwriter and Nobel laureate Bob Dylan also has a new venture planned – he’s launching his own brand of whiskey. 

Dylan’s songs have long featured whiskey and other spirits in the lyrics, so it isn’t a huge stretch to get to a distillery, but it isn’t something that people would expect, either. The venture came about when iquor entrepreneur Marc Bushala found out that Dylan was looking to trademark the term ‘bootleg whiskey’. Bushala contacted Dylan and made a whiskey-centric pitch, because he knew that the singer was a whiskey aficionado. 

Dylan told the New York Times that through his travels as a performer, he has “been able to try some of the best spirits that the world of whiskey has to offer. This is great whiskey.” The name of his new company, which has already drummed up millions in investments, is Heaven’s Door, named after a hit from the 1973 album Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. In a bit of irony, the song Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door is one that does not mention alcohol or whiskey in the lyrics. 

Photo of 3-ingredient honey-bourbon gold rush from The Kitchn by Faith Durand