Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley weren’t just co-stars in the hit TV-show The Vampire Diaries. They are best friends in real life, sharing a passion for bourbon. Brother’s Bond is a story 10 years in the making that resulted in the Brother’s Bond Straight Bourbon being released in 2021. Having taken a hands-on approach, it really is the result of a long friendship: everything from the mash and the taste profile down to the label is the pair’s work. A good cause is involved as well, as 1% of the sales goes towards supporting renewable farming practices.

The four grains (65% corn, 22% rye, wheat, and barley) are sourced from American farms and crushed using a hammer mill. The grains are then cooked with limestone-filtered glacier water from an aquifer that helps with neutralizing acidity in the sour mash. After the mash is cooled, it’s time for 3 days of fermentation using a proprietary yeast strain.

The distillation then takes place in a copper column still, after which the white dog whiskey enters American white oak barrels at 120 proof. The #4 char barrel staves and #2 char barrel heads ensure that the bourbon slowly achieves the desired profile. Finally, it’s blended into the smooth, complex, and balanced high-rye straight bourbon that is bottled at 80 proof.