Bob Dylan is getting into the liquor business! The elusive artist, 77, first announced his plans to open a whiskey distillery with the Heaven’s Door brand in April 2018, and now more details about the upcoming venture have started to emerge.
Per a press release that was shared on Tuesday, April 9, which is the 50th anniversary of the debut of Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album, Heaven’s Door Distillery and Center for the Arts is slated to open in fall 2020 in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
In addition to the Heaven’s Door craft distillery, the new center will also feature guided tours, a whiskey library, a restaurant and 360-seat live performance venue. The space will also include paintings and metalwork sculptures crafted by the legendary folk singer. The distillery is set for Nashville’s historic Elm Street Church, which is 160 years old.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate the anniversary of Nashville Skyline with our own addition to Music City’s skyline,” said Heaven’s Door Spirits’ CEO Marc Bushala. “Nashville is the natural home for the Heaven’s Door distillery and the Elm Street Church is a fitting home for Dylan’s visual artwork.”
According to Bushala, securing a location for the liquor-centered operation was a long, arduous process. “We spent years looking for a property that truly captures the essence of the Heaven’s Door brand, and when we finally found the deconsecrated church in SoBro, we immediately knew that it would be the perfect physical and spiritual center for the brand and Bob’s art,” he added.
Heaven’s Door’s “ever-evolving portfolio of handcrafted whiskeys” currently includes a Tennessee straight bourbon, a 100-proof, double-barrel whiskey and a rye whiskey finished in French cigar barrels.
Though the whiskey is currently produced elsewhere in the United States, all of the Dylan whiskeys are directly tied to Tennessee either via distillation, aging, barrel finishing or bottling.
Upon first announcing his partnership with Heaven’s Door in 2018, Rolling Stone reports the “Blowin’ in the Wind” singer said, “I’ve been traveling for decades, and I’ve been able to try some of the best spirits that the world of whiskey has to offer. This is great whiskey.”
