Bob Dylan’s Heaven’s Door whiskey gets limited edition cigar barrel finish

The barrels they are a’changing over at Heaven’s Door Spirits, the company behind raconteur Bob Dylan’s very own whiskey line.

It’s just announced a limited edition release of Heaven’s Door whiskey, called Bootleg Volume VI, which finishes its blend of aged wheated bourbons in Limousin cigar barrels.

“A cigar barrel is given its name due to its tall, elongated cigar-like shape. The shape of this barrel provides more whiskey to wood-to-surface contact which yields more pronounced flavor notes,” said Alex Moore, Heaven’s Door’s Master Blender.

“Limousin oak is air dried over time versus kiln dried, which makes a big difference in terms of the tannins and sugars that are naturally resident in the oak.”

A combination of 12, 13 and 14-year old wheated bourbons, the time spent in the cigar barrels is said to soften the bourbon’s sweetness with spiciness, and oak and fruity notes.

It’s a nice collector’s piece for Dylan fans, even if they’re not big whiskey drinkers. Presented in an intricately-patterened gift box, the bottle itself takes a detail from Dylan’s “Favela Villa Candido” painting, part of his 2015 Brazil painting series. It’s a glimpse of the Brazilian favelas through Dylan’s eyes, with a clear nod to the style of Cezanne.

The release is well timed to coincide with renewed interest in Dylan. His journey from the 60s folk music scene of New York’s Greenwich Village through to global megastardom is the subject of a new Oscar-baiting biopic, A Complete Unknown. Starring Timothée Chalamet and directed by James Mangold, it his UK cinemas on January 17th.

If you want to get a taste of the liquid though, you’ll have to move fast — only 5,000 bottles will be made available worldwide, costing $499.99 (about £410). Don’t think twice, it’s alright!

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