Bob Dylan to launch whiskey brand after The Rock announces tequila venture

Country legend Bob Dylan has announced a foray into the world of alcohol, with reports saying he will launch a whiskey line.

The news comes barely a fortnight after it emerged that entertainment wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was also entering the booze business, albeit with a tequila brand.

Celebrities launching their own line of products is nothing new. However, the trend is more towards FMCG goods like cosmetic lines. The occasional restaurant or hotel is also not ruled out.

Alcohol brands, however, are a more recent fad, and quite profitable as well. The move is possibly to make money off this trend that the two celebrities are entering the market.

Bob Dylan’s whiskey venture

Bob Dylan is jumping into the alcohol bandwagon with Heaven’s Door Spirits. A Guardian report dated April 29 describes the whiskey as “a Tennessee straight bourbon, a double barrel whiskey and a straight rye.”

The 76-year-old Dylan has joined hands with Chicago-resident entrepreneur Mark Bushala to bring the whiskey into the market. They are planning to turn a church into a brewery.

The whiskey will initially be available only in Tennessee, and may hit the markets as early as May.

Interestingly, it was Bushala who approached the Nobel laureate with the idea. He had reportedly come to know that Dylan had trademarked the term “bootleg whiskey.”

Bushala was quoted by the Guardian report as saying about Dylan: “This is not a vanity project for him. It’s a passion project.”

The Rock goes the tequila way

News of Dylan’s venture broke less than a fortnight after it had emerged that The Rock was planning to launch a tequila line of his own.

It is to be called Mana, something Dwayne Johnson has posted often about. After all, Mana in Polynesian culture means “spirit.”

Now although TMZ.com reported about The Rock and his people zeroing in on the name Mana, it is not known where and from when the tequila brand will be available.