Light marshmallow | Caramel dipped green apple | Toasted brown sugar | Baking spice | Pie crust | Rye grain spice | Inviting opening to the sip

Spiced rye | Light cinnamon | Peppercorn | Light sweet caramel | Vanilla | Slightly tannic oak | A trio of spice with a dash of oak and sweetness

Oak | Dry cinnamon | Rye spice | Dry leather | Lingering spiced heat to close things out

Heaven’s Door Highway 61 Blend began as a private blend program that Heaven Door allowed retailers to partake in. Instead of offering the choice of a single barrel, retailers created a custom blend by choosing between three different bourbons and two different ryes. The company has recently shifted away from doing custom blends and now focuses on offering a more traditional single barrel program.

The end result in this case is a bourbon that carries distinct traits of Heaven’s Door more traditional product offerings, yet manages to stand out as distinctly unique on its own. The sip opens with an intoxicating nose of rich scents that draws you in. While the mouthfeel is on the thin side, the flavors are good. While the sip is unique, I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s any better than the standard Heaven’s Door offerings, and in fact, I’d be hard pressed to recommend it over those offerings. That’s not to say this is bad, it's more of a testament to the quality of the standard products Heaven’s Door puts out.

The bottle being reviewed was a blend produced by Premier Spirits out of Amherst, New York . It is bottle number 86 out of 120. The final blend chosen was 69% of Batch I05-52 bourbon and 31% of Batch B15-64 rye.