Country music superstar Dierks Bentley has launched his third signature bourbon in partnership with the Kentucky-based Green River Distilling Co.
Following the September 2024 launch of his ROW 94 — a nod to the year he first moved to Nashville — and this spring’s unveiling of Broken Branches, which shares its name with his latest album, the “Bourbon in Kentucky” singer celebrated the release of ROW 94 Full Proof on Wednesday, September 24.
Featuring hints of vanilla, fresh tobacco, leather, and subtle clove on the nose, the 120-proof spirit — barrelled for no more than four years packs a punch but still goes down smooth — just like one of Bentley’s bluegrass and country adjacent bangers.
“During the development of our ROW94 bourbon, I tasted it at full proof — and I instantly knew we had something special,” says Bentley. “There’s something raw and powerful about the uncut experience that really stuck with me. I love our flagship bourbon at 94 proof, but I’ve been looking forward to sharing this 120-proof expression with our fans ever since.”
Dierks Bentley on a Tour of the Green River Distilling Co. PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy Zach Belcher
With a price point of $59.99, Full Proof comes in at a slightly higher cost than the original ROW 94, while still remaining accessible for bourbon connoisseurs like Bentley — who describes himself as a “Busch Light beer drinker.” The partnership with Green River first formed a few years ago when he began searching for a signature spirit to have at Whiskey Row, his bustling bar on Nashville’s Broadway strip.
"I started out drinking Jim Beam because Hank Williams Jr. drank it — and you get into Hank Jr., you get into whiskey," Bentley said. "In 2020, I was consuming bourbon just to see how fast it could get to my liver. But when the world stopped, I set the guitar down and, like a lot of people, started listening to podcasts, reading books, and actually smelling, looking at and thinking about the bourbon before I drank it. That’s what led me to Green River. It just felt like home. It felt like me — kind of looks like my guitar, weathered in a good way."
At the event — which also included a distillery tour and barbecue from Western Kentucky staple Moonlite Bar-B-Q — the Arizona native shared how he’s always felt at home around people from Kentucky, a connection that played a key role in helping him find his footing in Nashville more than three decades ago.
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“I loved country music but everyone was dressed like Garth Brooks,” jokes Bentley. “I was just a punk from Arizona that didn’t really understand the whole music industry thing. I felt out of place until I walked into a bar called the Station Inn one day and a bunch of Kentuckians were on stage playing bluegrass, Johnny Cash, and George Jones tunes. It really anchored the start of my career and continues to hold a lot of synergy with the [Bluegrass Music] Hall of Fame being located just down the road from where we are now.”
Bentley went on to explain how his leap of faith in moving to Nashville inspired “Broken Branches,” the collaborative title track with country legend John Anderson on his latest album, which also lends its name to his second release with Green River.
“That song is about how we’re all broken branches from the family tree,” says Bentley. “Everybody in Nashville has come from somewhere else and are trying to do something nobody else in their family did. Because of that you often create your own family trees in Nashville, and John Anderson is the ultimate black sheep who’s been able to do that.”
After a tasting of all three of Bentley’s bourbons with Green River, the singer took the stage to close out the event with a short set that included his 2007 hit “Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)” — one of his 18 No. 1 songs on country radio — along with the fitting “Well Well Whiskey,” “Off the Map,” “Drunk on a Plane,” and his boot-stomping debut single, “What Was I Thinkin’.”
Bentley referenced the latter song as the potential name for another bourbon down the road, as he and Green River continue brainstorming ways to expand their partnership. He also expressed interest in creating a rye and other older blends using the catalog of the distillery’s new owner, Bardstown Bourbon Company.
For more information on ROW 94 Full Proof and Bentley’s other bourbons with Green River, visit ROW94Whiskey.com.
PHOTOGRAPHY: (Cover image) courtesy of Zach Belcher
