Dierks Bentley Takes His ROW 94 Whiskey Hologram to Nashville's BNA — and Changes How Bourbon Gets Marketed in Airports
Most bourbon brands settle for a shelf placement and a paper shelf talker. Dierks Bentley has other ideas. The multi-platinum country superstar and founder of ROW 94 Whiskey is now deploying a life-sized hologram of himself inside Nashville International Airport, turning one of the country's busiest travel hubs into something that looks more like a scene from a science-fiction film than a spirits marketing campaign. It is a bold move, and given the brand's trajectory over the past two years, it fits perfectly.
The Nashville Activation: What's Actually Happening at BNA
ROW 94 Whiskey, founded by Dierks Bentley, has brought his life-sized hologram to its second airport location — Nashville International Airport, also known as BNA — this June and July. Beginning Tuesday, June 2 through Friday, July 31, Bentley's hologram is welcoming visitors traveling to Nashville. The timing is deliberate: summer is peak travel season for Music City, and the airport serves as the first and last impression millions of visitors carry home with them.
Along with sharing the story of ROW 94, the hologram points travelers toward sampling opportunities and drink specials at The Pharmacy Burger Parlor, an outpost of a beloved local restaurant located in BNA's A/B Rotunda and operated by travel restaurateur HMSHost. For passengers already killing time between connections, the combination of a bourbon tasting and a signature cocktail at one of Nashville's most recognizable restaurant names is a natural draw — and an unusually effective funnel from awareness to trial.
"As a former Commissioner and friend to the airport for many years, we're excited to have Dierks Bentley's ROW 94 hologram to welcome travelers this summer," said Doug Kreulen, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority. The statement carries real weight: Bentley's relationship with Nashville and its institutions is not purely transactional. He has been part of the city's fabric for three decades.
Nashville is where Bentley calls home, and it is also the location of the historic Music Row, where ROW 94 draws its name. That convergence of autobiography and brand identity is the kind of storytelling authenticity that money can't easily manufacture, and it gives the airport activation a narrative layer that most spirits promotions lack.
The Signature Cocktail: A Drink Built for the Terminal
BNA is proud to offer ROW 94 in the Dierks Lemonade at The Pharmacy Burger Parlor. The cocktail represents a smart play for the airport environment — approachable enough for a first-time bourbon drinker, yet built around a spirit with genuine character. The recipe calls for combining all ingredients except soda water and lemonade in a shaker tin with ice, shaking vigorously to break up three raspberries and dumping into a beer can glass without straining, adding ice as needed, then topping off with equal parts lemonade and soda water, garnished with two skewered raspberries and a lemon wheel. It is the kind of drink that photographs well, travels a story well, and introduces ROW 94's character without demanding that drinkers immediately go neat — a sensible onboarding mechanism for the curious but uncommitted.
How the Louisville Debut Set the Template
The Nashville installation didn't arrive without a proof of concept. Bentley debuted the hologram last September at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky, where ROW 94 is made. Louisville was the logical first stop: the city sits at the heart of Kentucky Bourbon Country, and its airport has long leaned into that identity as a differentiating asset for travelers.
Beginning September 12, a life-sized Dierks hologram welcomed travelers to Louisville, shared the story of ROW 94, and pointed them toward exclusive signed bottles and limited offerings of ROW 94's Broken Branches Bourbon at the airport's Distillery District Marketplace. Distillery District Marketplace is located in the post-security rotunda area, near the entrances to Concourses A and B — which means nearly every departing passenger walked past it. That is premium real estate for a bourbon brand trying to build national recognition.
The Louisville launch event had additional theatrical elements. Beaming in live from Nashville, Dierks answered media questions and chatted with travelers passing through the airport. There was also a signed guitar giveaway and ROW 94 tastings in the rotunda. The exclusive airport offerings included signed bottles unavailable elsewhere, creating a collectible opportunity for fans of both Bentley's music and bourbon. That scarcity element — something you could only get if you were standing in that airport on that day — is a powerful driver of engagement and social media amplification.
"We welcome ROW 94 and this unique Dierks Bentley experience to SDF," said Dan Mann, executive director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. "The addition of ROW 94, including the exclusive selection available in the terminal, is the perfect way for thousands of bourbon enthusiasts from around the globe and Dierks Bentley fans to start or end their visit by enjoying our state's signature spirit. SDF is proud to be the gateway to Bourbon Country and provide opportunities like this, showcasing why our airport offers a best-in-class experience to passengers."
September is not only Bourbon Heritage Month — it also marks one year since ROW 94 launched, becoming one of the industry's more talked-about new bourbons. Timing that first hologram activation to coincide with the brand's one-year anniversary, in the very state where the bourbon is produced, showed a level of strategic intentionality that sets ROW 94 apart from celebrity spirit brands that treat launches as press moments rather than marketing foundations.
The Technology Behind the Hologram
Bentley's ROW 94 Whiskey is featured in the airport, with the hologram serving as an interactive guide using advanced holographic technology. While the specifics of the tech stack behind the display have not been publicly detailed, the execution — a life-sized, realistic rendering of Bentley capable of narrating the brand's story and directing travelers to specific in-terminal experiences — represents a meaningful step beyond the static cardboard cutouts and looped video screens that have long passed for "experiential" marketing in airport retail.
This effort follows a growing trend of artists like ABBA and KISS using holograms for both entertainment and promotional purposes. What makes the ROW 94 application distinct is the commercial integration: unlike an ABBA Voyage concert, where the hologram is the product, here the hologram is a mechanism for driving consumer trial and retail conversion. It is brand-building and point-of-sale marketing compressed into a single piece of technology. For a bourbon brand that is still building national distribution, that efficiency matters.
The ROW 94 Portfolio: More Than a Flagship Bottle
Coming up on its two-year anniversary, ROW 94 now includes ROW Broken Branches and Full Proof in its lineup, with Broken Branches recently expanding nationwide. That portfolio growth, in less than two years, reflects both the brand's ambition and the strength of its production partnership.
ROW 94 is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, launched in September 2024 by country music superstar Dierks Bentley and crafted with pride at the historic Green River Distilling Co. in Owensboro, Kentucky. Founded in 1885, Green River is the 10th oldest distillery licensed in Kentucky. Nestled in Owensboro — the bluegrass capital of the world — the historic Green River Distillery is the westernmost distillery on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, away from the urban mainstream and anchored in simple living that stands as a symbol for the class of authentic whiskey that can be crafted from generations of distilling tradition.
The flagship expression's specs are straightforward and deliberate. 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 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." That lyrical callout on the label is either clever or gimmicky depending on your disposition, but it has proven remarkably effective at anchoring the brand identity in something culturally tangible.
Bottled at 47% ABV — 94 proof — Row 94 is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon, available for around $40. Bentley has said he "knew I wanted 94 proof because I like some bite, and that I wanted it aged for at least four years since that's when it starts to taste best to me." "Row 94 is a serious whiskey that doesn't take itself too seriously, and I'm glad we finally get to share it." The whiskey has earned its stripes in competition as well: it received a Gold medal — 94 points — at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Broken Branches: The Premium Play
Country music star Dierks Bentley unveiled a limited-edition bourbon with only 1,500 bottles available worldwide. Row 94 Broken Branches, created in partnership with Lofted Custom Spirits at Kentucky's historic Green River Distilling Co., features a unique "Branch Aging" process that adds fire-toasted oak staves to deepen the whiskey's flavor profile. The five-year-aged bourbon undergoes an additional maturation process using oak staves seasoned for up to 24 months.
According to Travis Cantrell, Director of Quality at Lofted Custom Spirits, "We used fire-toasted Oak staves that had been seasoned for 24 months for the 'Branch Aging,' lending additional nuance to the whiskey." Official tasting notes describe the nose as offering vanilla, caramel, and stone fruit, with brown sugar and butterscotch hints. The palate delivers sweetness with leathery and nutty notes, while the finish presents cinnamon and smoke that transitions into subtle spice. The Broken Branches Bourbon represents a premium tier within the ROW 94 portfolio, targeting serious collectors and enthusiasts.
Full Proof: The High-Octane Expression
A third expression — Row 94 Full Proof — was scheduled for a July release. This variant is barreled at 120 proof and aged a minimum of four years. The Full Proof release signals that Bentley and his team understand the bourbon enthusiast market well enough to build a portfolio ladder: an accessible, award-winning entry-level bourbon at $40; a limited-edition, collector-focused expression pushing craft technique and scarcity; and a cask-strength pour for the barrel-proof faithful. That is a thoughtful brand architecture, not a single-expression celebrity vanity project.
The Name, the Thunderbird, and the Story Only Bentley Can Tell
ROW 94 is named for Nashville's Music Row and the year Dierks fell in love with country — it is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon made the right way with no shortcuts. Specifically, 1994 is the year Bentley moved to Nashville and really started his journey in country music, and "Row" refers to Music Row in Nashville and also Whiskey Row — so the name is a nod to where it all started, representing that sense of home and the journey.
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.
The brand logo is the thunderbird, a symbol near and dear to Bentley's heart, which fans may still remember gracing his landmark album Riser. The thunderbird is an emblem of strength and an ode to everyday people that believe in hard work, truth, pride, freedom, optimism, fun, and making the most of every day. That symbolism might read as marketing copy in isolation, but for an artist who has spent two decades writing songs about exactly those themes, it carries autobiographical weight that connects with his audience on a gut level.
A Decade in the Making: How ROW 94 Finally Came to Life
The brand did not materialize overnight in the way that some celebrity spirits do — hatched in a boardroom and handed to an artist as a licensing deal. 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.
For a long time, the idea stayed on a shelf in Bentley's mind, 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. That is a more honest origin story than most celebrity bourbon brands offer, and it explains why the product itself came out with genuine specs — a 94-proof, four-year-aged, rye-forward Kentucky straight bourbon — rather than a quick-aged, contract-bottled label slapped on generic whiskey.
To hear Bentley talk about it, he 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." Unlimited supply, at a price point under $40, from a distillery with 140-year roots — that combination is exactly what separates a brand built to last from a celebrity label built to flip.
BNA as a Platform: The Airport's Own Story
The Nashville airport isn't just a convenient venue — it is itself a growth story that mirrors ROW 94's ambitions. Nashville International Airport is one of the fastest-growing airports in the nation and a vital infrastructure asset for Middle Tennessee, and as the gateway to Music City and beyond, BNA plays a pivotal role in supporting economic growth and community prosperity. The State of Tennessee's 2025 Economic Impact Study reports that in 2024 alone, BNA generated $13.8 billion in total economic impact, supported 80,000 jobs and contributed to $2.1 billion in federal, state and local taxes.
Put simply: the foot traffic at BNA is enormous, the demographic skews heavily toward the kind of traveler who spends money on good food and drink, and Nashville's identity as Music City gives a country music–born bourbon brand natural permission to exist in that space. The hologram isn't just a gimmick — it is a high-visibility media placement in one of the most visited airports in the American South, running through the entire summer travel season.
Dierks Bentley's Broader Empire — and Why Whiskey Makes Sense
After more than 20 years on country's family tree, Bentley's newest album Broken Branches follows eight No. 1 albums, 22 No. 1 songs, and over 9.5 billion global streams, plus 15 Grammy nominations and membership in the historic Grand Ole Opry. That kind of catalog doesn't just sell concert tickets — it builds a constituency of loyal listeners who buy into whatever Bentley puts his name on, provided it feels genuine.
He is currently appearing with Luke Combs on the My Kind of Saturday Night Tour before kicking off his own headlining Off The Map Tour on June 12. Bentley will continue to bring his "anthemic energy" and "top-flight musicianship" to fans across the country with the support of legendary Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder and Kaitlin Butts, along with up-and-comers Cole Goodwin, Owen Riegling, and the Mountain Grass Unit on select dates. A summer tour of that magnitude, running parallel to the BNA hologram activation and the broader Broken Branches promotional cycle, gives ROW 94 a media halo that would cost tens of millions of dollars to replicate through traditional advertising.
As an entrepreneur, Bentley has four locations of the gastropub and live music venue "Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row" and a Flag and Anthem lifestyle collection called "Desert Son." The Whiskey Row bars provide a controlled retail environment where ROW 94 sits at the center of every drink menu, while the lifestyle collection speaks to a specific male consumer who wants his brand affiliations to cohere around a coherent identity — outdoors, country, no-nonsense, unapologetically American. ROW 94 fits that profile precisely.
He also recently launched the Broken Branches Fund, a multi-year initiative in partnership with Music Health Alliance to provide mental health support for the music industry's creative and touring professionals. That kind of community investment adds moral texture to the brand narrative — and for a consumer base that increasingly evaluates brands on values as much as product quality, it matters.
Celebrity Bourbon: A Crowded Field, But Not All Created Equal
The celebrity spirits space has become genuinely crowded over the past decade. Bentley is certainly not the first country music star to launch a spirits brand — in 2022, Brad Paisley launched American Highway whiskey, while Thomas Rhett has his own tequila line under the Dos Primos name. The list extends well beyond country music, running through every genre and sport, with varying degrees of authenticity and product integrity.
What separates ROW 94 from the pack is a combination of factors that are harder to fake than a famous name on a label. The production partnership with Green River Distilling Co. — founded in 1885 and ranking as Kentucky's 10th oldest licensed distillery, with a facility that has produced numerous award-winning spirits throughout its history — provides a credibility floor that contract-distilled, undisclosed-source spirits cannot match. The price point — firmly under $40, with a 94-proof spec that has more character than the 80-proof baseline that plagues many celebrity entries — signals that Bentley was chasing quality rather than margin. And the decade-long gestation period, from that first conversation at the Scottsdale Whiskey Row in 2012 to the September 2024 launch, is the kind of timeline that reflects genuine passion rather than opportunism.
"Half-assing it wasn't really on his radar," as one account puts it. "This is whole-ass, for sure," Bentley has said with a laugh. In a category full of celebrities lending their likenesses to brands built by others, that attitude — and the specs that back it up — is refreshing.
What the Hologram Means for Bourbon Marketing Going Forward
Strip away the celebrity and the country music associations for a moment, and what ROW 94 has accomplished at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport and now at Nashville International Airport is genuinely novel in the spirits marketing space. A hologram that tells a brand story, directs consumers to a specific retail location within the same building, promotes a signature cocktail, and can be deployed and redeployed across high-traffic venues without requiring the talent to physically be present — that is a scalable marketing asset unlike anything bourbon has seen before.
The promotion connects Bentley's music and whiskey brand with bourbon enthusiasts, providing a unique opportunity to engage with both. For spirits brands watching this campaign unfold, the lesson is not "get a hologram" — it is that the most effective bourbon marketing in 2025 and 2026 meets drinkers in the physical spaces they already occupy, tells a story that connects product to place and person, and removes the friction between awareness and trial. The Pharmacy Burger Parlor partnership at BNA accomplishes all three in a single activation.
The progression from Louisville in September 2025 to Nashville in June 2026 also suggests an intentional airport-by-airport expansion strategy. Both cities represent natural homes for ROW 94: Louisville as the birthplace of the bourbon, Nashville as the spiritual home of the brand. The next logical stops — Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Atlanta — would each place the hologram in front of a country music–loving demographic with disposable income and time to kill. If the BNA numbers bear out what the SDF debut suggested, ROW 94 will have built a uniquely defensible marketing channel in airport retail, one that is both hard to replicate and tightly aligned with the brand's core audience.
Looking Ahead: A Brand With Room to Grow
With the flagship bourbon collecting competition gold and expanding into new states, Broken Branches finding a national audience, the Full Proof expression targeting the barrel-proof crowd, and a summer tour pushing Bentley back into arenas across the country, ROW 94 is entering its second year with substantially more momentum than it started with. ROW 94 is on its way to becoming America's highest-rated, most affordable new bourbon at $39. That claim, backed by competition medals and strong market reception, is not the kind of line a brand makes up — it is the kind of line a brand earns.
The Nashville airport hologram, running through the heart of summer in one of America's fastest-growing travel hubs, is the latest chapter in a marketing story that has moved faster than almost anyone in the bourbon industry expected. For travelers passing through BNA this June and July, a life-sized version of one of country music's most enduring stars will be there to greet them, tell them a story about Kentucky craftsmanship and Nashville roots, and point them toward a pour that, by any measure, earns its keep on the shelf. That is a pretty good pitch — and it comes with a hologram.
