Heaven’s Door is a partially Bob Dylan created bourbon brand headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. They are using Tennessee Whiskies generally but in their Double Barrelled and Single Barrel Cask Strength releases there are some MGP sourced whiskies as well. This particular bottle from Hokus is Tennessee bourbon, with a low rye mashbill but the mashbill is higher in rye than Cascade Hollow releases in Dickel. This particular bottling comes in at eight years old, a hefty 121.8 proof, and is $60 at Hokus.

Color is a very nice amber with Mahogany flecks. On the swirl are some seriously thick long legs. On the nose, there is lots of vanilla and baking spice, and a little oak; very inviting. On the palate, heavy vanilla, some dark chocolate, that is then followed by cinnamon and clove. Very rich and oily mouthfeel. On the finish, the baking spice is actually met with a little bit of spicy candied rye, which I wouldn’t have expected with such a low rye mashbill. Really nice bourbon.

I really have to give it to Hokus Pokus on snagging this particular barrel pick. Barrell Single Barrel Bourbons’ pricing has increased dramatically over the last couple of years, and this Heaven’s Door release is on par with those releases at $60. That, and I probably wouldn’t have ever tried Heaven’s Door otherwise, as I tend not to go in for celebrity gimmicks when it comes to bourbon. I haven’t bought a bottle of Longbranch (even though I like McConnahey) or Bradshaw bourbon (even though he was my hero when I was a kid.) But, the folks at Hokus pick great barrels, and give me a sample before I buy. I like this so much I definitely will stop into their new distillery and visitors center in Nashville which is going to be housed in a 160 year old church building. Heaven’s Door indeed.