“Well, well whiskey, looks like we meet again ...”

With a line from one of his songs, country music star Dierks Bentley on Sept. 24 serenaded a room full of fans at Green River Distillery who came not just for the music but for the whiskey.

Bentley introduced the latest expression of his ROW 94 bourbon, produced at Green River, in a most Western Kentucky way: With Moonlite Bar-B-Q, a whiskey tasting, distillery tour and some of his biggest hits.

Bentley and Green River launched ROW94 in September 2024, then earlier this year added a second limited release, Broken Branches, named for another Bentley song.

Now, they’ve added ROW94 Full Proof, a 120-proof version.

What makes ROW94 Full Proof special

Bentley said he wanted to bring out a “special occasion bourbon,” but one that would stay at a reasonable price. It’s $54.99, slightly higher than the regular ROW94 expression.

Bentley, in an interview, said he’s conscious that his fans are, like himself, “Busch Light beer drinkers” and wanted the release to be affordable yet good.

Bentley said the relationship with Green River developed organically a few years ago. “I have a bar in Nashville called Whiskey Row ... and I’ve always wanted to have an expression there,” he said.

A Jim Beam drinker in his younger days, Bentley said he became acquainted with Green River’s flagship bourbon. “Hank Williams Jr. drank Jim Beam, and you get into Hank Jr., and you get into whiskey.”

Coming to the distillery, he said he enjoyed learning about different flavors.

“I love the way it tastes ... kept coming back up here, visiting and hanging out,” he said. “This place just felt like home. ... It felt like me, kind of looks like my guitar, weathered in a good way.”

Now he is signing bottles of his own label and featuring his brand in activations on tours.

While his original version is as suitable for a rocks glass as a red Solo cup, “a working man’s whiskey,” his ROW94 Full Proof is “fun, sophisticated, not your everyday bourbon,” Bentley said.

According to the tasting notes, the bourbon has a nose of vanilla, fresh tobacco, leather and clove. On the palate, it’s honey sweetness, raisins, black pepper with a smoky oak finish that transforms into toffee and dark chocolate.

More Dierks Bentley whiskeys coming?

Bentley said he is looking at more releases, including a rye, and possibly older expressions selected from the catalog of Green River’s new owner, Bardstown Bourbon Company.

Green River produces several different recipes and distills for many clients, from celebrities like Bentley and football icon Terry Bradshaw, to major brands including Blue Run and Kentucky Owl.

Austin Willett, vice president of operations, said about 80% of what the distillery makes goes to other clients, with the remaining 20% bottled under the Green River label.

What distinguishes ROW94 from the other whiskeys Green River produces?

Willett said they barrels for ROW94 are chosen for a particular flavor profile and, until now, bottled at 94 proof. Now, with the higher proof version, those flavors are amplified.

ROW94 Full Proof is available online at ROW94whiskey.com. The special release Broken Branches Bourbon, which was limited to 1,500 bottles, is available there as well. All of the Bentley releases are available in the Green River Distillery gift shop.

Bentley said he might be inspired to bring out new whiskey releases under more song titles.

“’What Was I Thinking’ ... that would be a good title for a bourbon,” he said. “Once you start looking at songs through that lens, everything sounds like a whiskey.”

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