If you’re a fan of hit-making singer-songwriter Dierks Bentley, you probably know that when he does something, he tends to go all in. It’s just part of his personality.

Arriving in Nashville in 1994 as a kid from Arizona with a golden mop of curly hair (and an abiding love for the rowdy tunes of Hank Williams Jr.), he turned himself into a bonafide country superstar. Nursing an appreciation for good friends and a quality bar, he didn’t just open one of his own—he founded the gastropub Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, which now has four locations nationwide. And when Bentley got interested in flying, he didn’t just get a pilot’s license—he got rated to fly his own private jet, making the long hours of travel between sold out arena concerts much more fun. 

So, when the multi-platinum artist began planning his own bourbon brand, “half-assing” it wasn’t really on his radar.

“This is whole-ass, for sure,” Bentley tells Bourbon+ with a laugh. “There are different ways to do this. I’ve had friends put bourbon out, and it’s tied to an album release, or there’s some sort of short-term connection between the two of ‘em. But this is not like that. It’s something I’ve been working on for a long time to get out there. It’s a standalone deal—and I mean, I don’t know how you don’t go all in if all your money’s into it because it’s expensive. This shit’s not cheap [laughs].”

So far, the results seem worth the effort. 

Bentley launched Row 94 in September, and though the Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey retails for less than $40 in stores, it drinks like a spirit twice that price (and for good reason). Currently available in Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Colorado, and Arizona, Row 94 also ships to most states nationwide via ROW94whiskey.com, and more are expected to open up their markets in the coming year. To celebrate the splashy arrival, Bentley and a few hundred friends took over the downtown Nashville location of his Whiskey Row chain—and before the night’s neon-lit revelry kicked off, he kicked back on a comfy green room couch, taking a moment to admire his work. 

Bentley admits that he’s done a lot of things he never expected to. But this is a different kind of exciting.

“It’s still cool for me to see the bottle and hold it,” Bentley says, turning the prize over in his hands as the sleek, black-and-gold design catches light with a glimmer. “It’s scary in a lot of ways because it reminds me of putting out that first album. It’s hard to replicate that first-time feeling—the first time making an album, the first time being on a major tour, the first time using your guitar to make money at a local gig. Those first-time feelings are great, and it’s so hard to do that now in music. You’re always trying to find ways to make it feel new. But this is obviously a whole new venture.”

Scary or not, courage has never been a problem for Bentley—and luck tends to favor the bold. Breaking out with the hard-driving young-love anthem “What Was I Thinkin’” in 2003, the Capitol Records Nashville star has gone on to stay at the top of the genre for 20-plus years, posting eight No. 1 albums and 22 No. 1 songs, most of them co-written by Bentley himself. Meanwhile, his unique blend of rural song craft and rock showmanship (plus a little Bluegrass twang) has earned Bentley a rep for modern country with an honest connection to its roots, leading to three CMA Awards, three ACM Awards, and an impressive 14 Grammy nominations.

His 10th studio album, Gravel & Gold, dropped in 2023, and over the course of the 30-show headlining tour that went with it, Bentley proved he still has the all-in fire burning deep within. The polar opposite of a legacy artist phoning in his hits, each night’s show demanded an epic effort—and even featured a whole ‘90s-themed musical comedy routine in its encore, complete with mullet wigs, tiger-print spandex, and choreography. Combine that commitment with previous side projects like his Desert Son clothing collection from Flag & Anthem, and Bentley knew from experience Row 94 had to be done right. He’s seen too many promising ideas come to nothing.

“I mean, of all the celebrity brands out there, only five percent of ‘em ever have any sort of success, and that all comes down to sweat equity,” he explains. “I feel like one thing I can do better than a lot of people is work. I didn’t have the greatest voice coming into this town and I’m not the best guitar player to ever get off the bus. But I love meeting people and doing the work. When I was first starting off, we had the buses out over 300 days a year for several years. In one stretch, we did 26 shows in a row, so I’m not afraid to work.”

The Row 94 idea started forming in 2012—back at the opening of Bentley’s first Whiskey Row in Scottsdale, Arizona. Even then, he knew a bar called “Whiskey Row” ought to have its own whiskey, and as a lifelong enthusiast—which he credits to “listening to Hank Jr. and drinking a lot of Jim Beam”—it was always going to be a Kentucky bourbon. Bentley also knew the natural connection between country music, country fans, and bourbon was authentic, but there’s nothing easy about starting a business, even for a guy like him. Doubly so for a brand-new bourbon. 

For a long time, the idea stayed on a shelf in Bentley’s mind, he says, waiting for the right moment. Oddly enough, it was actually a few months of purpose-minded sobriety during the pandemic that brought it back to life. The time off “reset” Bentley’s palate and inspired new interest in the complexity of the distilling craft. And then, in about 2021, a good friend with experience in celebrity-branded spirits said the magic words: “How about now?”

More engaged in the bourbon world than ever, the timing finally felt right to Bentley. And after bringing his manager on board, too, the trio started thinking seriously about what they’d want.

“[My partner] wanted to be under $40 a bottle. And I was like, ‘Well, it’s got to be a 4-year-old Kentucky Straight for me,’” Bentley explains. “I’m not going to put something out that I don’t drink.” 

Right away, those details proved a challenge to nail down. The team ultimately embarked on a years-long (but not exactly excruciating) process, visiting distilleries and looking for a way to make the vision happen. The trouble wasn’t finding a quality partner—it was the estimated price consumers would end up paying. Everything was coming out twice as expensive as Bentley had hoped.

“There were times in the last couple of years where I was like, ‘Well, it’s just not going to happen because I can’t put out something that’s not the right stuff, and the right stuff’s really expensive,’” he says. “When I walk into a store to buy whiskey or wine, I don’t have a lot of knowledge about it. I kind of go right to the middle. … I’m not looking up top; I’m not looking down low. I want eye level, $35- $40 range.’”

Finally, with their prospects all but dried up, Bentley found what he was looking for in Green River Distilling Co. Founded in Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1885, it’s the 10th oldest licensed distillery in the state, and Bentley was immediately drawn to its rustic, salt-of-the-earth vibe, with weathered century-old architecture and an agricultural foundation to match his own no-frills nature. 

“When I envision a Kentucky distillery, it’s this,” he marvels. “There’s remnants of old buildings that survived fires and stuff. I was like, ‘Wow, this is the place.’”

Better yet, Green River proved to be the perfect partner. Over the ensuing months, a deal was struck giving the distillers a stake in Bentley’s brand—allowing the team to get top-quality juice at cost and keep retail prices low. And thus, Row 94 was born. To hear him talk about it now, Bentley feels like he found a unicorn.

“It’s a really hard game to play, and [this is] an unreal deal,” he says of the partnership with Green River Distilling Co. “Everyone I’ve interviewed and talked to in the distribution world says this is the best setup we’ve ever seen as far as sustainability. We have unlimited supply.”

In the end, Row 94 came out as a classic Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey—but with plenty of personal touches and a hint of country-music tradition. Based on Green River Bourbon’s famous “Rye-forward” mash bill (70% Kentucky-grown corn, 21% rye, and 9% malted and row barley), each bottle even boldly proclaims its contents as “three ingredients and the truth,” in reference to Hall of Fame songwriter Harlan Howard’s famous description of country music’s essence, “three chords and the truth.” 

After distilling, Row 94 is aged four years in new white oak barrels with a level-four char and proofed at 94—both Bentley’s preferred cut and the year he arrived in Nashville, discovering his love of Bluegrass. The “Row” portion of the brand’s name is a shout-out to Nashville’s Music Row, and beneath a label blending rugged simplicity with sophisticated elegance, the spirit offers taste notes of vanilla, toffee, and “subtle green apple,” with a honey and tobacco finish. 

It all adds up to what Bentley likes to think of as a “serious bourbon that doesn’t take itself too seriously” and pours as well over rocks as it does in a red Solo cup. Personally enjoying it “on stage, offstage, backstage, and on the bus,” the star goes on to say he wanted a utilitarian daily drinker, and that’s just what came out. It’s just as good neat as it is in a cocktail or mixed with Coca-Cola.

“It’s kind of who I am as a person,” he explains. “I don’t have a thousand guitars, I just have a few—and I don’t want a lot of guitars. I just want ones to get the job done. 

“I don’t want a lot of whiskeys, either,” he goes on. “I don’t want a huge collection. I want maybe one super-nice bottle in the back of my cupboard, but this is a workingman’s whiskey. It’s the way I run my team on the road, too. Everyone doesn’t have just one job. Everyone does a lot of jobs.”

Looking ahead, that team gets one more job as they follow their boss into his latest venture and help introduce Row 94 to old fans and new believers. However, as a celebrity-branded everyday bourbon with real quality behind it, the main selling point is right in Bentley’s wheelhouse —convincing people to have a good time. And he isn’t shy about putting in the work.

“I think each bottle’s a little bit like one of my concerts in glass,” he says. “When people come to a show, I want them to just have a great time. I want them to forget about their troubles and worries for a little bit—maybe make some new friends—but just be very present in the moment they’re in and have some laughs.

“This isn’t for the $100, $200 [bourbon] crowd,” Bentley continues. “This is for the guys and girls who come out to the shows, the people that work hard all week and want something that’s good enough to drink clean in a rocks glass, or something to have on the boat in a red Solo cup. I’m really proud of it. That’s why I’m doing the hustle.” 

Dierks’ Lemonade

Combine all ingredients except soda water and lemonade in a shaker tin with ice. Shake vigorously to break up the 3 raspberries and dump into beer can glass (do not strain). Add additional ice if needed. Top off with equal parts lemonade and soda water. Garnish with 2 skewered raspberries and a lemon wheel. 

1.5 ounce ROW 94 

.75 ounce simple syrup

.75 ounce lemon juice 

3 raspberries shaken vigorously 

Splash of lemonade

Slash of soda water

2 skewered raspberries

Lemon Wheel

Row Old Fashioned 

Pour ROW 94 and WithCo Old Fashioned over a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange zest and cocktail cherry. 

2 ounces ROW 94 whiskey

.5 ounces WithCo Ellis Old Fashioned

Ice 

Cocktail Cherry

Cover Photo by Robby Klein

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