Distillery: Undisclosed (rumored to be George Dickel)
Proof: 114
Age: 18 years
Mashbill: TBD
Price: $599.99
Company
Established in 2015, Heaven’s Door Spirits is the result of an exclusive partnership between famed musician Bob Dylan and the Spirits Investment Partnership (“SIP”).
The brand has distinguished itself by winning multiple awards, including the prestigious #1 Consumer Choice Award at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Heaven’s Door offers a variety of premium whiskies, such as straight bourbon, double barrel whiskey, and straight rye whiskey.
Production
This seems to be the standard Heaven’s Door bourbon, but is 18 years old and finished in Spanish Vermouth Rogue Casks.
Heaven’s Door Bootleg Series Vol. 5 Review: Tasting Notes
Nose – 3/5
Heavy initial ethanol with pronounced black pepper and deep oak notes. A touch of toast and raisin with slight caramel. This reminds me a lot of Heaven’s Door Acresion, just a bit richer.
Palate – 4/5
Much hotter than expected with immediate raisin bread and rich caramel. The heavy oak carries through as well with just a touch of black pepper, vanilla, and cinnamon. This is one of the better-tasting Heaven’s Door expressions I’ve had.
Finish – 3.25/5
Heay leather and oak with black pepper. There’s also a slight caramel and cinnamon note that carries through. It’s a little less dynamic than I thought based on the palate.
Value – 1/5
I get that this is an 18-year bourbon. That’s an accomplishment in and of itself. And that’s obviously very expensive for Heaven’s Door to produce.
Even more, this is a really good bourbon. It has a great taste and rich flavor profile that’s basically everything you have come to love and cherish about Heaven’s Door, but on steroids.
But when you take a look at the offering as a whole, I can’t imagine spending $600 on a bottle of this. I also expect this to be sought after and allocated, so the real price is likely to be even higher. It’s just not competitive when it creeps into the price range of something like George T. Stagg and W.L. Weller.
Heaven’s Door Bootleg Vol. 5 Review: The Verdict
2.81/5
We score each bourbon based on nose, palate, finish, and value.
Scoring System:
- Platinum – 4.25 – 5
- Gold – 3.25 – 4.24
- Silver – 2.75 – 3.24
- Bronze – <2.75
Hunter Branch is the Founder and Director of Editorial for Bourbon Inspector. He has been writing about and professionally reviewing bourbon since 2020 (and has been drinking it for much longer). He’s been able to interview big names in the bourbon industry like Trey Zoeller from Jefferson’s Bourbon and his work has been featured in publications like TastingTable, Mashed, and more.