A straight whiskey sourced from Tennessee, the Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon is an interesting release and a bit of a mystery. It carries a 70% Corn mash bill, which eliminates the usual culprit of George Dickel. True they could have contract distilled with a different mash through GD, but it’s been aged for 8 years and Dylan’s company was formed in 2015 ( 4 years ago as of writing this).
Searching the internet for mash bills, the only one I found in Tennessee that fits the bill is Davidson Reserve from Pennington Distilling Co. who sports a mash of 70% Corn, 25% Rye and 5% Malted Barley. They were founded in 2011 and with the first release of Heaven’s Door bourbon being “aged for almost seven years” and the current being 8 years the timeline does match up… barely.
BUT for them to be the source it would mean Pennington had to be sitting on a large cache of early barrels and Dylan & Co. bought them all. There is no mention of the Lincoln County Process so Prichard’s could also be a suspect, but I couldn’t find their mash bill anywhere. That’s a lot of speculation, but the real test is how it smells and tastes, which we’ll get into right now in the Tennessee Bourbon review below.
Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon Review: Details and Tasting Notes
A unique mash bill from Tennessee, the Heaven’s Door Tennessee Straight Bourbon utilizes 30% “small grains” to complement the character imparted from spending a minimum of 8 years in American oak barrels. The result is smooth and lasting with notes of vanilla and baked bread layered over a bed of toasted oak.
Details (price, mash bill, cask type, ABV, etc.)
Region: Tennessee, USA
Distiller: Unknown
Bottler: Heaven’s Door
Mash Bill: 70% Corn + 30% Rye & Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 8 Years
ABV: 45%
Price: $50*
Tasting Notes
EYE
Dark copper
NOSE
Dark fruit, Strawberry Necco, Oak, Vanilla, baking spice, honey and dried corn with a bit of powdered sugar.
PALATE
Caramel, biscuits, dried corn, freeze dried strawberries, grain, oak, vanilla and notes of spice, cocoa and peanuts.
FINISH
Medium -> Corn, vanilla, caramel and oak.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Good sense of balance, medium body and a light feel.
Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon Review: Overall and Score
It comes through a bit on the light side, but it’s definitely not watery or weak. The Aroma is a bit reminiscent of George Dickel, but not dead on, it’s mostly that soft musty corn and vanilla essence that gets me thinking… maybe; Palate is not as complex as the aroma but it’s still lovely and pulls in a bit more of that dried corn profile; Finish is soft and fades out oaky.
The aroma is the best part of this whiskey hands down, the palate ain’t shabby, but the aroma of the Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon is so much more enticing and interesting. I get a suggestion of Dickel in here, but it’s not fully there. Sipping on some Dickel 12 and Dickel 08 as side-by-side references, the similarities to the house style are undeniable – but so are the differences.
True, the differences could be due to barrel selection, but when you take into consideration the 70% corn mash bill (GD’s is 84%) it’s likely it’s not them. Either way, it’s a fun tasty whiskey and I’m going to enjoy sharing and sipping through this bottle.
SCORE: 86/100 (B)
*Disclosure: This Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
Heaven's Door Tennessee Bourbon Review 50
Heaven's Door Tennessee Bourbon Review Summary
Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon has an incredible nose and an average palate. Not wild about it, but not disappointed by it either.
Overall
- Nose - 86
- Palate - 86
- Finish - 86
- Balance, Body & Feel - 86
User Review
( votes)( review)
Sourced from Tennessee Distilling Group in Columbia, TN. I live less than two miles from the distillery. The bottle even labels it from Columbia.
The current ones do, yes, but originally they came from GD. The master blender told me directly :)
If Dickel made a high-rye recipe...
The Bottle I purchased loses the Tennessee on the label and is simply “Straight Bourbon Whiskey”. The website states ” Distilled and aged its entire life in Tennessee, this whiskey is non-chill filtered to preserve its mature flavors. The result is smooth and lasting with notes of vanilla and baking spices layered over a bed of toasted oak.” It has also been upped in proof to 92 and age statement has gone to “minimum 6 years”. Also not sure if the no chill filtering claim refers to pre barreling (ala the Lincoln County Process) or pre bottling or both? It also touts “single story aging houses” if that gives any more clues to the source. When I popped the cork my first thought was, “This smells a lot like Cascade Hollow”. However, after it sat for a few minutes, that resemblance faded. On first taste, I thought “This is Dickel, if Dickel made a high rye recipe”. It has that maple, fruit cocktail syrup, and oak character that I love about Dickel, but with an added rye spice. It definitely has a “rougher” quality than anything with the Dickel label on it. No “Flintstone Vitamin” note that I could detect. I really liked it. I assumed it was Dickel mixed with some high rye MGP, but if the website is telling the truth, that is ruled out. My interest is now piqued as to the source. Glad I picked it up, no matter where it came from.
Hey BDanner,
“single story aging houses” means Dickel. They’re the only major distiller who use those. Also, the head blender at HD told me directly they use Dickel. He didn’t say the word Dickel, but said it came from “the second-largest distiller in TN”. Weird that they removed TN from the label, but they’re not required to say Tennessee Straight Whiskey, just the Straight Whiskey part… so long as it says distilled in TN on the back; it has to be somewhere on the bottle.
Glad you like it and thank you for sharing your thoughts on it!
My bet is that it is sourced Dickel and they mistated the mashbill.
That’s the only thing that makes sense, and it tastes a lot like GD, so there’s that too.