Celebrity-founded Brother’s Bond Bourbon makes UK debut with starry four-grain whiskey range

Brother’s Bond Bourbon has launched in the UK, bringing its premium four-grain American whiskey portfolio to British shelves for the first time. Founded in 2020, the celebrity-fuelled brand has been making waves Stateside with accessible yet layered bourbon and rye, distinguished by hands-on blending, careful barrel selection, and a commitment to regenerative agriculture.

Co-founders Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley will be instantly recognisable to many. Somerhalder rose to global fame as Boone Carlyle in Lost, before becoming indelibly associated with the role of Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries.

Wesley starred alongside him in The Vampire Diaries as Stefan Salvatore, the moral counterpoint to Damon’s darker charisma, before taking on the role of James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

What began as a simple ritual between the two – sharing drams after long days on set – gradually deepened into a serious engagement with American whiskey. Over nearly two decades of friendship, the duo’s interest evolved from casual appreciation to sustained immersion in the craft itself. 

Somerhalder serves as Blending Master, overseeing mash bill development, barrel selection and final blends. Wesley works alongside him on flavour direction, creative identity and portfolio strategy. 

What began as a simple ritual – sharing drams after long days on set – gradually deepened into a serious engagement with American whiskey…

More than a celebrity whiskey

Brothers Bond introduced itself to the UK at a bustling launch in the Dover Yard bar, Mayfair, with a masterclass hosted by Somerhalder, who detailed his blending process, highlighting the use of specific barrels and the influence of different distillation times. 

The Luxe Review was on hand, and after a couple of scene-setting cocktails – The Long Game, crafted from Brother’s Bond Straight Bourbon, honey mead, ginger and cordyceps extract, and Off the Clock, a blend of Brother’s Bond Rye, sweet vermouth, jasmine and berry distillate with CBD-infused Trip peach soda – we got down to the serious business of sampling…

Central to the Brother’s Bond house style is a four-grain mash bill: corn, rye, wheat and malted barley.

All expressions are small-batch barrel blends, matured in new American oak with custom char and toast profiles. Production uses hammer-milled grains cooked with naturally limestone-filtered water drawn from deep glacial aquifers, followed by copper-column and copper-doubler distillation. Maturation takes place in Indiana or North Carolina, depending on the expression.

Across the range, the style moves from soft and approachable to richer and more complex. There’s something for everyone.

Brother’s Bond Straight Bourbon, £50.95
Bottled at 40% ABV, Brother’s Bond’s core four-grain expression (65% corn, 22% rye, 13% wheat & barley) is a smooth, easy drinker. Awarded Double Gold with a 98-point score at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the nose warms with banana bread and baking spice, making way for honeysuckle and toasted cereal on the palate. It’s a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. 

Brother’s Bond American Blended Rye Whiskey, £54.95
In contrast, this high-rye expression (77% rye) is bottled at 47.5% ABV, and is built from multiple rye mash bills for extra aromatic lift and depth. 

“I’ll tell you, I was really nervous to release this,” confides Somerhalder, as we sip. “People have been making rye whiskey for 150 years. So how in the hell can you release a rye, especially as a celebrity brand, and still win?”

But win it does. This rye is rich, with notes of caramel, pineapple, mint, and warm cinnamon.

Adds Somerhalder:“This is a four grain rye, which most people don’t want to do, because they want that designation straight rye whiskey, which I totally respect. I want a rye whiskey that blows people’s minds, that changes their concept of what rye whiskey is.”

Apparently the blending process took over a year in Somerhalder’s kitchen. Time well spent.

Brother’s Bond Bottled in Bond 7 Year Old Straight Bourbon, £61.50
The heavy-hitter in the collection. Aged for a minimum of seven years and bottled at 50% ABV under the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, this liquid is 49% rye and 51% corn -”but it’s 39% rye and 10% malted rye, and that malted rye is the special sauce that makes all the difference,” says the co-founder.

It opens with aromas of vanilla, toasted oak and sweet caramel, followed by butterscotch, maple syrup and characteristic spice.

Brother’s Bond Regenerative Grain Straight Bourbon, £54.50
Something of a passion project from the brand, this final expression is made from regenerative grain sourced from farms within 5–20 miles of its North Carolina distillery and matured in proprietary low-char barrels. With a toasty nose, and silky texture, it intrigues with honeyed cornbread, vanilla, light florals and a clean, warming finish. The ABV is 46%.

Somerhalder is passionate about regenerative farming. “In wine, you really do celebrate the people growing the grapes, making that wine, “ he says, “but no one ever celebrates the farmers, which is where we get all this stuff from. No one ever celebrates the producers of these amazing grains. We want to change that.”

We’re told that with every bottle sold, the brand raises money to support regenerative farming initiatives.

“The whole ethos of the brand is just to bring people [together]… shared experience bonds people… we need togetherness and bonding now more than ever in history, and this is the company to do it.”

Brother’s Bond Bourbon is now available in the UK from Amazon, priced from £50.95.