Heaven's door continues to bring some pretty good bourbon at a decent price point that *gasp* you can actually find on shelves. Their most recent offering, Homesick Blues is bottled at a fiery 122.7 proof. Will it be a bit TOO hot for those of us that insist on tasting neat? The nose smells quite hot indeed. Ethanol runs deep here but if you take delicate whiffs, sweet caramel and vanilla bean served up with some slight herbaceous basil ( weird... ) and just the slightest hint of dried apricots all lead up to a really interesting nose profile. The palate is very very hot and peppery. A bit expected for the proof. There are some high proof bourbons that don't really make their potency known... this is not one of them. The overwhelming taste here is tongue stinging peppercorns. When you first take in the drink, before the taste explodes with pepper and proof, you do get a very soft and sweet hit of caramel and vanilla that was present on the nose. As the spicy heat subsides, in comes the interesting drying herbaceous notes found on the nose but it tastes almost like rye spice. Weird... because this bourbon's mash bill is 70% corn and 30% wheat. The finish keeps that spice going, but definitely allows that initial heat to die down significantly. It's a tad dry and flashes some leather in there as well as a little spice drop candy ( you know the gummy ones that don't quite taste like dried fruit and don't quite taste like spice? ). This is a bourbon that's potent and will definitely wake you up. Not impossible to drink neat though - I've had similar proof whiskies and bourbons that burn much deeper than this. Maybe this Christmas season, I'll finally give in and buy a water pipette for stuff like this. Overall a solid stomach warmer.
About this bottle
Homesick Blues is a limited edition release from Heaven's Door Spirits founded by musician Bob Dylan. It's a wheated bourbon which was cultivated, distilled, and aged in Dylan's home state of Minnesota. Made from a mash bill of 70% corn and 30% wheat, it was aged for 7 years. Bottled at cask strength, it's available for pre-order via the brand's website as of October 2023 with deliveries to coincide with the release of the biography Bob Dylan: Mixing Up The Medicine on October 24, 2023. This coincides with a nationwide release. (SRP $79.99)
How it tastes
Measured across 14 flavor axes. Tap a note to find other bottles that lead with it.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 5 parsed reviews.
I have had several other Heavens Door offerings, including several cask strength bourbons and i would have to say this one is my favorite. Sweet on the nose, the caramel is very obvious. Same with the taste, on the sweeter side from the start, the oak is prevelant on the finish in particular. Very smooth for a cask strength at 122 proof.
The wheat is integrated so perfectly with the corn, and it's incredibly smooth for the abv. It absolutely destroyed Barrell Foundation (which is pretty good by itself) and made it taste like water. Tried at a friend's or I'd have more its many notes. Would love to blind this with Bardstown Origin series wheated.
At cask strength this is very spicy, but at the same time smooth with a nice mouth feel. I got ceral notes with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon. This is a very nice sip and gets better with an ice cube to open it up even more.
Cereal, hot spice, wheat full, great proof, cinnamon
Tastes like this
Closest flavor profiles across the whole catalog.
