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Cracking Open Heaven's Door Tennessee Bourbon: Apricot Jam & Spice · Aussie Bourbon Lovers

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  Incredible flavours, even better stories. One pour,
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  10 minutes. Aussie Bourbon Lovers sharing bourbon with Australia.
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  Oh, very pleasing. It's, it's, it's that sweet, sweet sound
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  of a fresh crack. Yeah, of a brand new bottle. What are we drinking,
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  Dave? This is a Heaven's Door Tennessee Straight
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  Bourbon Whiskey in, in kind
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  of 2026 terms, this is the Revival expression. I'm saying that because
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  this bottle was actually acquired a little while ago and it's
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  the old packaging. Oh, a bit weird. But if you show the camera for the
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  good folks on YouTube— the packaging. Yeah, yeah, there we go. A bit like
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  that. Oh, it's brighter. Uh, it doesn't have the word Revival on it
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  because they actually changed it. So this was, this was the one before they started
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  calling it Revival, but Now, if you're looking for it in a bottle shop,
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  you're looking for the one that's called Revival. If you want to play along at
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  home, this is really cool, is a Tennessee straight bourbon whiskey.
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  And I'll just— here. Cheers.
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  Cheers. I've had this before
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  at Kentucky Bourbon Festival and also at a place in Nulu.
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  We'll talk about that in a moment. This is a brand new crack. I've had
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  it on my shelf for ages. It's been sitting there. It's one of those bottles
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  that the bottle looks so intricate and beautiful that It kind of— I
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  don't know, there's a certain decision you have to make to open a new bottle.
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  Yeah. And it's also got a great thing of like the bottle is that great
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  kind of rectangular shape with a lot of whiskey in it still. And so when
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  you have a backlit whiskey cabinet like we do, when the
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  lights are on, you get that lovely whiskey color, which you don't always get because
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  the labels often get in the way of a lot of bottles. But the effect
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  of that really cool cover, like the really cool label they've got, will go as
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  the whiskey goes down. So I can see why we've like hesitated to open
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  it because the bottle does look so cool. So it's pretty iconic, this, this design
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  on the front of the bottle. For our friends on YouTube or watching along somewhere,
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  that, that iconic shape. Do you remember? Well, you and I were told this at
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  the same time, what that— where that's from. Do you remember what it's from?
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  It's from— oh, you're going to have to remind me. It's the gates.
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  Yeah. Do you remember? Do you remember? You go. So Bob Dylan is— Heaven's
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  Door is Bob Dylan's whiskey brand. Yeah. He's got some kind of a—
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  maybe a ranch. Yeah. And his gates have this design on it.
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  And so that's— yeah, but was that from the gates or from the drawing of
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  the gates? No, no, that's what his gates look like. Yeah, I think as well.
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  I could be very cool. I'm in trouble getting that cork back in.
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  Come on then. On the nose, what are we getting? Well, oh,
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  that is delightful. It's spicy. Yeah, I was going to say there's
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  definitely some nutmeg. It's a good one.
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  Like almost like a spice rack. Yeah. Like when you're
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  walking, you're pushing the trolley around the supermarket, you walk in that spice section,
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  you just like smell all the spices.
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  Yeah, a little bit of like apricot or like a stone fruity kind of thing
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  as well. That kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah,
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  definitely getting the nutmeg. Very like, yeah,
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  really nice spice on the nose.
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  Oh, what about the palate, Dave? How's it go?
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  That's— I'm enjoying the smell. Really approachable.
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  That's apricot jam on toast. Pro tools. You could easily
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  pour another. Well, I'm not going to complain if you want to pour me another.
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  That's, that's— wow, that's— this,
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  this is the second time I've had this exact experience of this expression
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  and this whiskey, actually, where I went, I,
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  I don't know, I'm not sure about this, and then I've had some, I'm like,
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  wow, this is really yummy. There's a reason you bought the bottle. There's a
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  reason I bought the bottle. Maybe like an apricot port.
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  Is that too weird? No, no. Because your dad used to soak
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  like dried apricots in port. Yeah. And it's got that
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  kind of aftertaste, that really fruity. Yeah.
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  Yeah. I've just had dessert kind of that kind of a thing.
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  Yeah. Yeah. Really fruity, really viscous. And the
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  mouthfeel is kind of that lovely, almost syrupy
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  kind of thing going on. You get that like it coats your mouth.
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  Very nice. For the, for the folks, our friends playing at home,
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  92 proof. So that's 46% alcohol.
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  Although actually we have a different version of this. So the one that we're drinking
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  is 42%. So that's, yeah,
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  84 proof.
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  And it's aged at least 5 years and it's got a kind of
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  smooth lasting finish of caramel and cinnamon and nutmeg. There you go. We got the
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  spice rack right. Yeah, vanilla and oak and hints of charred wood
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  and a little bit of toasted grains. I think that's all probably true. What,
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  what do you— what are your favorite Heaven's Door kind of facts and figures?
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  What are you like? Mine's all about, well, the taste is delicious and the
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  experience. Like when we were in Louisville, we went to— it's like they've converted
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  an old church into— it's not like they have.
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  They definitely have. They have. But it's like, like as
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  in, well, no, but sometimes when you convert an old church, it's like a little
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  church or this is like a massive like almost cathedral-ish
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  type church. And it's— they've turned it into this amazing
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  whiskey bar and it's all backlit
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  and it's like stories high. And it's— you walk in,
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  it's just so— I don't know, it's— I
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  have a picture in front of me of it. If you get it, if you
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  are not driving or running or something as you listen to this,
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  punch it into Google. It's called The Last Refuge in Nulu in Louisville.
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  That back bar has got to be— just has to be in
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  some of the most spectacular whiskey back bars in
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  the world. There must not be very many. It's like, it's very spiritual. It's like
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  it is. Yeah, it's like, yeah, there's like little nooks and
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  pews and bits and pieces, but also like this really cool bar
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  and even like statues and stuff. Like it's just
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  a— I don't know, I love that it brings that I
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  don't know, really awe-inspiring vibe. And, and you get,
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  yeah, a great night. We're super lucky. We've been there a lot when it's been
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  really warm and there's a nice courtyard out there as well. We— I
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  don't think we've even sat out in the courtyard, have we? We've usually been inside.
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  I was there in April on a business trip, of course,
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  but I was by myself, so I didn't get to hang out with you.
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  So I sat at the bar and you sit at a
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  bar like this and it is so intimidating to sit at a bar like that.
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  And I know what makes it intimidating. Well, a lot of those bottles I know
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  that you're not going to reach because they're so high up. And whether they're just
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  for looks or however that— however they do that, I don't mind. But there's a
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  whole lot of them you can drink, and they do have an outrageous menu.
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  And you sit there and you go, well, I have had some of these,
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  I have some of these at home, I kind of know a little bit about
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  it. There's a menu in front of you, there's a lot of reading to do.
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  It's quite an academic exercise to try to work out what you're going to drink
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  next. And so then you kind of You lean into the expertise of the people
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  who are looking after you. Yeah. And those around you. And the guy, one of
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  the guys who was, who came and sat next to me
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  almost as I sat down by myself, the guy next to me kind of sat
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  down as well. And he was also travelling for work. He was
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  a flight attendant, I think. Yeah. And he and I shared a great moment
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  of like having this same problem and we talked
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  about our bourbon experiences and what we liked and didn't like. And then We both
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  had a flight of Heaven's Door. Yeah. And it was a really fun experience where
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  I was really— actually, I think he— I might have got a neat pour first
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  and then he got a flight and I was really jealous. So I got a
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  flight as well. You had order envy days. Yeah. And it was this great experience
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  of sharing an experience of exploring
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  and learning about new flavours and stuff.
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  And it was a busy night, so the bartenders weren't like really hanging out with
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  us a lot, but But I just love the atmosphere that they create. Like,
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  it's like it brings together that beautiful whiskey,
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  but with the storytelling and,
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  you know, the grandeur of like what they've converted
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  the place into. And, you know,
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  I just think it's awesome. I think it, I think it is great fun.
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  There's one of these things about— we always bang
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  on about this. People must be getting sick of it. But going to Kentucky and
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  going to sit in one of these places and Last Refuge is just one of
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  them. There's so many you can go to. Yeah, there's many,
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  many must-go-tos if you go to Louisville, but this one you have to have
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  on your list. Well, I don't know if you have to have anything on your
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  list. Go and hang out where you want to hang out. But it just,
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  it creates a very different, unique experience, I think, like just by the location of
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  where you are. One of the cool things that I'm kind of learning,
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  one of the great things about whiskey is that you always learn new things.
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  We were out yesterday, we were at a session with one of the big distilleries,
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  and they were talking about all these cool things, hearing new stories from
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  lots of cool stuff. And I was writing things down. I think it's
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  becoming clearer that I'm a bit of a weird nerd note-taker. I was writing down
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  things in my Notion about all the different things about their expressions and
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  the kinds of wood they're using and all this kind of stuff. Then tonight I
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  did a quick Google about this because I was curious about this. This is a
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  Tennessee straight bourbon whiskey. Yeah. What does that mean? There's a curiosity
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  in me about this thing because almost
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  all Tennessee whiskey, or maybe I can say all Tennessee whiskey is bourbon,
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  but not all bourbon is Tennessee whiskey. So Jack Daniel's, for example,
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  is infamously Tennessee whiskey, but it doesn't call itself bourbon. Yeah.
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  Because it follows this Lincoln County process where they kind of filter it
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  through the maple charcoal, where they do this extra
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  process. Yeah, to give it this extra clarity or whatever. So when Heaven's
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  Door Whiskey released this product and they call it Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey,
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  they're doing— I can't help but ask, why is someone saying
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  it's not Tennessee whiskey but it's Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey?
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  Yeah. And what, what's the rationale behind it? Or are
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  they just— well, did they do the Lincoln County process to
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  make it get to this status of—
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  and even do they even have to? Because I don't even, I don't even have
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  that good clarity on what the rules to call it Tennessee whiskeys are.
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  I think, I think you just have to be made in Tennessee. I think it
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  has to be aged, made and aged in Tennessee. Yeah, but the additional rules
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  to bourbon, it's, it's an extra, it's a bonus rule. It's a bonus rule.
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  You have to go through this extra process. But in this case, actually, this particular
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  one hasn't had the Lincoln County process done to it, to be
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  perfectly honest, not that I could tell. But I wouldn't be able to tell you.
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  This hasn't been done to it, but there are versions of this expression,
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  or Heaven's Door. Yeah. Tennessee straight
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  bourbon whiskey, apparently, that have had the Lincoln County Process done to it. There you
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  go. Why have we spent 10 minutes not talking about Bob Dylan?
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  I don't know, because he's the, he's the man behind
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  this, isn't he? The movie's awesome.
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  The music's great. And he loves whiskey. And so, yeah. He founded a whisky
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  label with a, with a great master distiller. They do great stuff. Great thing to
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  do. Write good music and then make good whisky. Well,
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  and I mean, if only we could all be Bob Dylan, but good music and
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  good whisky. Well, we can bring those things together. We can't be
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  Bob Dylan, but we can bring good music and good whisky. I'll certainly listen to
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  his music and drink his whisky. Yeah, for sure. I'll be a consumer of his
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  genius. That's right. And is this available in Australia? You can get this in Australia
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  for sure. Yeah. Great. Well, there you go. Go get yourself some Heaven's Door
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  and listen to some Bob Dylan and drink some good whiskey. Cheers. Cheers.
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