American whiskey brand Heaven’s Door, co-created by singer Bob Dylan, will launch in the UK and Ireland through a distribution deal with When We Are Giants.

Dylan launched the Heaven’s Door brand in April 2018 in collaboration with Angel’s Envy Bourbon founder Marc Bushala.

The Heaven’s Door range includes Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Double Barrel Whiskey and Straight Rye Whiskey.

The trio of whiskeys will be available in the UK and Ireland through Drinksology Group’s distribution and marketing arm, When We Are Giants.

“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 Bushala, CEO of Heaven’s Door Spirits.

Mike Beavan, sales director of Drinksology Group, added: “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.”

Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon (42% ABV) and Heaven’s Door Straight Rye Whiskey (43% ABV) will be priced at RRP £75 (US$97) each per 700ml. The 50% ABV Heaven’s Door Barrel Whiskey will be priced at RRP £95 (US$123) per 700ml. It is available to buy from Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange.

In April 2019, Dylan revealed plans to open a new distillery for the brand in Nashville, Tennessee, which is expected to open in autumn 2020.

In November, Heaven’s Door revealed further details of the first bottling in its new Bootleg range, a 26-year-old expression finished in Japanese mizunara oak barrels.

According to the New York Times, Bushala noticed that Dylan had made a trademark application for the name “bootleg whiskey” and reached out to his representatives to gauge interest in working together on a small batch release to serve to somebody.

Lo and behold, a deal went down and he even convinced Dylan to drop the “bootleg” from the name to better sell high-end whiskeys.

However, the “bootleg” brand is handled with care, and saved for a special release. Heaven’s Door will launch a luxury “Bootleg Series,” featuring ceramic bottles decorated with Dylan’s oil and watercolor paintings. The first will be a 25-year-old whiskey, available next year.

Bushala raised $35 million for this new project, and Dylan is involved as full partner in the business, officially named Heaven’s Door Spirits. He’s the face of the whiskey for all promotional material, and the bottle label design is based on his ironwork sculptures.

Heaven’s Door enters a hurricane of a whiskey market, which has grown by 52% over the last five years, to $3.4 billion in 2017.

Source: Forbes и TheSpiritsBusiness