420. Brothers Bond Bourbon with Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley

The real love story of Vampire Diaries to me was really the brothers. These boys bonded on screen over bourbon and Paul and I bonded off screen over bourbon. When you think of celebrity brands, we don't consider, we're not a celebrity brand.

Oh, friends, and welcome back to another episode of the Bourbon Road podcast. I'm your host, Jim Shannon. And I'm your host, Todd Ritter. We've got a great show for you today. So grab your favorite pour and join us. Todd and I are proud to have Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars as a sponsor of this episode and as the official cigar of the Bourbon Road podcast. Our hosts and listeners alike enjoy the ultimate experience of premium cigars. Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars are where flavor and craftsmanship meet. Find out more during the halftime break and at Smokey's Lifestyle Cigar dot com. The Surgeon General warns that cigar smoking can cause lung cancer and heart disease and is not a safe alternative to cigarettes. The Hill House Bed and Breakfast, located in Loretto, Kentucky, is ready to be your bourbon country home away from home. Located less than three miles from Maker's Mark, the Hill House is convenient to Bardstown and the rest of the Bourbon Trail. The next time you visit bourbon country, choose comfort and convenience. Choose the Hill House Bed and Breakfast. Listen in at the break for more details or visit their website at thehillhousekentucky.com. All right, listen, so we're real excited today. We've got a couple of new guests on the show. We've got a couple of new whiskies that we have not had before. We know you're going to be really excited about this. Todd is not going to be able to join us on this episode. Today we have two great friends coming on the show today. We have Ian and Paul from Brothers Bond. Ian, Paul, welcome to the Bourbon Road.

Thank you very much. Todd's clearly, you know, missing out here.

He is. He's definitely missing out.

But we appreciate that you're here, so.

Yeah, thanks for having us, man. It's really special to be on here talking about this, our beloved whiskey that's really, you know, fortunately making the grade and we're really just over the moon about it, you know?

Well, we do appreciate you guys for sending us a couple bottles. We have two bottles that we're going to review on the show today. We understand that you do have five expressions currently and probably working on more and we'll get into that as we dive deeper into the show. But we kind of like to get straight to that first pour if that's okay with you. Yeah, buddy. We've got the bonded whiskey in our first glass. So who would like to take us through this?

Bottle and Bond, you know what's interesting? The history of Bottle and Bond is so special and I know a lot of your listeners are already so well-versed, but for anyone who wants a refresher, going into the 20th century, whiskey was the most counterfeited commodity in the US product. Isn't that crazy? So in 1897, the Fed stepped in and they basically had so many complaints and so many people were getting sick because whiskey was counterfeited. So it was making people sick, making them blind, killing them, all that stuff. And so they created the the first Federal Consumer Protection Act ever, which was the Bottled and Bond Act of 1897. Isn't that cool? Like the first Federal Consumer Protection Act ever made was actually for whiskey to protect consumers. And it's a really cool designation, but you know what's interesting? You know, by the way, Brothers Bond bottled in bond. It's got such a great ring to it. But what we're noticing is people that are going into these stores and grabbing these bottles. And I don't know if you, oh, you know what, man? I'll put the chat in the chat. I'm going to send you this article. Just came out two Wednesdays ago. Forbes and Tasting Alliance or New York International Spirits Competition. Forbes puts out this article. Top five whiskeys in the world. and according to New York. And you scroll down a little bit, boom, first thing you see, Brothers Bond bottled in bond. We could not believe our eyes that we were reading in Forbes that this whiskey is being heralded as one of the top five in the world. I mean, we were blown away and so excited about that. But people are really almost more drawn to seven year as opposed to bottled and bond. Hey, give me that Brothers Bond seven year. Give me that seven year. And that's that sweet spot. And we're really, really proud of this. This is like, I think, going to become like a flagship of our company because as you can tell, anyone who hasn't had a chance to try this or anyone who's curious, Please try this whiskey. The Brothers Bond Bottled in Bond is, it's not an accident. People are calling it sort of one of those better whiskies in the world. And we're just through, we're over the moon and we can't believe that that's what it's being called. Man, from a profile perspective, we worked so hard on this.

You want to take them through the mash billion? Give it a high, first of all.

So, what are you jumping off of that nose?

It's deep and toasted. Has a darker caramel to it. I'm getting a nice spice. Yep. It is a little fruity, but it's not a bright fruit. It's more like a fig or dates, a little bit more, you know, rich and darker.

Yeah. Something that's probably dried.

Yeah, definitely dried. I am getting a little bit of some typical baking spice. This is a bourbon drinker's bourbon. There's no doubt about it. It has all the touch points you're looking for. A little bit of maple syrup.

Little bit of maple syrup. At times, especially on the mouthfeel as well, and you'll start smelling it after you have that first sip or two. You might even find a little hints of nutmeg in there. It's just a rich, bold, and not even joking, but like a very luxurious pour. This bourbon, Paul and I take enormous amounts of pride in because It's obviously our oldest age statement out. We've got some older stuff.

the price point, it's pretty untouchable. This is at $59, is it? Yeah.

I just saw it for $57.99 yesterday. I think this is... Yeah.

Seven-year bottled and bond for that is killer.

But also one of the crazy things, and I say this in all humility, and I'm super grateful, This is a 98-point rated whiskey in San Francisco. 98 points, finalist for best in class, double gold. That doesn't come easily. These are blind tests. to Paul's point like, you know, for us too, and this is where we built this company, which was on taste, quality, story, and value. And I think that there are some real values within the industry. I think humbly, I think this is going to become one of those big value bottles. This is one of the things you're like, wait a minute. This is a seven-year almost hundred point whiskey that's a double gold, multiple double golds in the finals for best in class. That's the thing and I think you could agree too that you could take this to any home party, campfire, you could bring this to the father-in-law or the brother-in-law or anyone you can feel confident that this is what you're bringing is going to be respected and loved and appreciated. And also too, you know, so 51% corn, 39% rye, but then 10% malted rye. So, this isn't a malted barley. And one of the things that Paul and I have been obsessing over is this rye malt, right? And so, it's adding such a different character that it's truly a departure from a lot of other whiskies. what it adds is so invaluable. And that's why, you know, one of the things we've become obsessed with. So Paul and I are very fortunate. You know, from the very beginning, we were giving top sales away to regenerative agriculture and I work in regenerative ag. But so Paul and I are able to lay down our own grains at this point. And we just harvested 186,000 pounds of certified, regenerated regenerative organic cereal rye in Western Indiana on Rick Clark's farm, who my dear brother and mentor, Rick Clark. And think about that. We've been in business a little longer. We'd only been in market for three and a half, three years and five months, three years and six months. And now we're already growing a lot of our own grains.

Now, is some of that going to hit a malting floor at some point?

So we're doing our first big test run. going to take thousands of pounds of this and we're going to start making our own Rymal. Think about this. Regenerative, organic, Brothers Bond Rymalt. I mean, that to us is like we pinch ourselves going, this is not something that people typically are able to do this in early stages. And we're confident that this is going to give us a really amazing profile for many, many, many years to come. So, we're ecstatic, man. It's pretty amazing. And more into that regenerative stuff when we talk about the regenerative whiskey, but, you know, it was pretty amazing. I was sending this to the team. My dear brother, Rick Clark, was sending me on my birthday. I remember Paul going like, yes, that's so freaking cool, man. on my birthday was the morning of my birthday, December 8th, was the morning that the rye germinate, the rye was popping up in the field. And, you know, Rick had laid it down on this big air cramper because it's all, you know, no till and they just popped up, bam. And they're about three inches or so. And I sent it to Paul and he just goes, dude, what a birthday present, right? And then I sent it to the whole team. And then a couple months later, you know, it's damn near, you know, it's waist high and just blowing in the wind. And so we're pretty blown away that we get to do this with our own grains.

Well, that's pretty exciting. And I'll tell you, you know, Malted Rye, our listener base is very familiar with Malted Ryes because the show's hosts are constantly touting it as an amazing addition to any match bill. And it does make a crazy change. to a rye mash bill to have malted rye in there. It just changes things completely. A malted rye doesn't carry the same flavor profile at all as a traditional unmalted rye. And it's a great thing. This is a wonderful whiskey. It even has a little bit of that old rick house floor kind of dusty note to it. I love it. I really like that a lot.

You feel at home. Like, you know what I mean? You get that sense of like, if your home was like a really cool old, old farm, you know, and you're like, wow. But I also, I've tasted this in urban settings, I've tasted this on jets, like I've tasted it everywhere. And it always brings you back, not to sound all cerebral about it, but it always brings you back to that really grounded sort of like elevated feel. And, you know, one thing I will tell you and all, you know, you listeners who know Rymalt and really appreciate it, I will tell you, it is a labor of love because it is a pain in the ass to process. It really is. It's gummy, it's sticky, it's quite thin. You know, rye is very, it's quite It's, let's call it sensitive. It's quite fickle, you know?

Yeah. It likes to overflow for minors.

You got it. You got to treat it. You got to treat it right with respect. And, but yeah, I agree, man. That's why we're, we're so obsessed. Like that's why these, you know, two offerings for us are so special right now, because it is the specific offerings, right? it's the Rymalt at 7-year and the barrels for this are really special. And then again, switching over to the, not switching over, but just making mention, again, the regenerative, this proprietary toast profile and a very, very, very specific type of distillate, again, gave us this what you call it, Paul, like a real through a real like path, like a freeway to producing some, some, some whiskies to definitely talk about and take home that you can always feel confident that second you walk into anywhere where you're bringing these, you could feel confident that this is something special and that people are going to enjoy, you know,

Well, let's continue sipping on this. This is a wonderful whiskey and I can understand why, uh, the judges, uh, decided to, to lay so many awards on it. Uh, I think you even got a double platinum with the ascot on this, didn't you?

Double platinum. Yeah. Fred, you know, one of the things Fred and we were, we were talking about with Fred, I mean, Fred is like, Fred's a dear brother, man. We're talking about a Renaissance man, but he, but also too, he, you know, He has a passion and the historical, he's taught Paul and I so much just about the history of spirits in general. And the double platinum at Ascot's was major because these guys, the Tasting Alliance, Ascot's, these people do not play around, you know? Right.

Absolutely. Yeah, the reputation's on the line.

They're very careful about what they do.

And it's a consensus, too. It's not just one person saying, this is a great whiskey. You have to come to some consensus.

Yeah, it's not just Fred saying, hey, I love this. It's what we're doing. It's a group.

Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about the history and how you guys got started. I think we know a little bit of the story, but we'd love to hear it from you guys. What made you so passionate about whiskey? When did you have When did you have that first drink together and how did things start up?

Well, I grew up in New Jersey. I didn't drink a ton of whiskey growing up. Well, I wasn't drinking because I was too young to drink, but meaning it wasn't in my family. My parents were really big bourbon people. It was never really part of my upbringing. What made me really, what exposed me to Durbin was really moving to Georgia. I moved down south to shoot the show that Ian and I met on, The Vampire Diaries. bourbon is a huge staple of really anywhere in the South. Yeah. We were drinking on the show that we were on. We were two brothers who basically were fighting each other all the time over a woman. When we weren't, we were drinking bourbon. That was the only time we ever really got on was when we were drinking bourbon. On set, it was obviously not bourbon, at least not for the first few years. You know, iced tea and, you know, various things. And I remember being on set working 15 hours a day going, God, I wish this was real bourbon. I just want to get home and then you just get home and you're just like, oh my God, finally I have to work in 16 hours, I can go and have myself a nice bourbon. And it became kind of a ritual on the weekends, you know, because you're shooting in the south and you're away from your friends and family, you kind of like develop a little like, you know, it's almost like you're away at like a summer camp or something, an eight year long summer camp, but you can become friends with all the cast and crew and a lot of, you know, that sort of bonding ritual of drinking some bourbon over the weekend. And that's what really made us fall in love with the spirit. And Ian and I talked about doing a, starting our own bourbon for years, but we were obviously busy. We, you know, we got, we had a lot going on. And then COVID hit and then we thought, oh, well, this is a great time to sit back, blend, raise some money and try to buy some barrels and try to create our own product. And that's really, that was it. That's the sort of formation of Brothers Bond.

We spent over a year building what ultimately would become the platform, right, which is the what the 80 proof and our cast rate, which is actually technically our most award. That's Ascot's Tasting Alliance, New York, San Francisco, all of it. But we spent over a year doing that to get that that blend that was basically a platform. It was such an unbelievable taste profile that You know, think about it, man. And by the way, it's like a little controversial, people get mad at me when I say this, but like the real love story of Brothers, I mean, sorry, the real love story of Vampire Diaries to me was really the Brothers. And these boys bonded on screen over bourbon and Paul and I bonded off screen over bourbon. And so like, when you think of celebrity brands, right, we don't consider, we're not a celebrity brand. You know, we feel and I was just on with with Jesse Jones and he was saying, you know, you guys aren't celebrities that have a brand. you're not celebrities that have a whiskey brand, you're whiskey makers that happen to be actors. And that I was like, dude, thank you for saying that because listen, for sure, listen, it makes sense. Business wise, we get it. There are a lot of those celebrity brands. They really are. And there are dime a dozen now. There's a lot of them. This was not one of them. This was not some cash grab. In fact, Paul and I don't get paid, have never gotten paid and may not for about a decade. And that's just okay. But like, To be able to do this and share, you know, one of the things, because we came from the entertainment business and Vampire Diaries has been seen by over a billion people globally. And if you're like, you know, a listener and saying, hey, I don't know these guys and I heard my daughter talk about them or I had to see these guys in my living room or my wife was telling me about them. This, we learned that shared experience bonds people.

Yeah.

bourbon bonds people, food and beverage bonds people, but bourbon really bonds people. And so it's kind of cool, man. It's like, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a brand that's got this kind of quality and this kind of story, but with 15 years of global IP built into it. And now this level of quality.

Sure. Yeah, there's, there's no doubt. There's no doubt that you've got a product here that, that stands on it, stands on its own right. And it doesn't need, um, anybody to prop it up. This is a great product. This is a wonderful whiskey. This is a rich and tasteful. It certainly, I mean, if you can get a seven year bottle and bond whiskey with this kind of craftsmanship in the blending for under $60, it's a no brainer for me. And I think a lot of our listeners will feel the same way. Thank you. Yeah, and I appreciate you saying that. And Paul, you kind of burst my bubble there. I thought you guys were always drinking real bourbon. I had no idea it was iced tea. You kind of you break my heart here. I thought.

Believe me, I could have used it. I was so stressed filming season one and two. You know, we all. You know, I was like my I was 2026 years old and and, you know, I was like my first real big gig. You know, I mean, I had some other stuff, but this was like the big hit. And God, I was just so nervous. I could have used some brother's bond. But I tell you, season, you know, about season four, five, five, five for me.

We realized like, well, I don't think they can kill us now.

Yeah. Season five ish. I was like, All right. This is real bourbon from now on. And, you know, obviously within reason, but yeah, it was, we were definitely drinking, you know, probably, probably could say that now enough time.

But you also too, man, think about like the memories that he and I have. Sure. Over whiskey. And by the way, we wanted to do it because listen, season two, Paul and I realized like, We're not that stupid. I mean, we're pretty stupid, but not that stupid. We'll realize, wait, these guys, this show, you know, it was, we, we, we couldn't walk out of our hotel rooms anymore and stuff. And we thought, gosh, we love bourbon and these characters love bourbon. How cool would it be if we could share bourbon with all these people? But I was like 30, this is season two, man. This is like 2010. I was 31, Paul was 26 or 27. Like, what do we know about, you know, building a global alcohol brand? By the way, what do we still know? But we've learned a lot. And so, this I think for us, and by the way, this next year, this is gonna be eight years. And just like, you know, like showing what's under the hood a little bit sometimes. you as a whiskey maker, just like a farmer, because I work in regenerative ag and so half my life is farming and the other half is building my brands and raising our babies. But there's not a single night farmers go to bed at night not worrying about their crops. And for a long time, there was not a single night Paul and I went to sleep at night because we put everything we had into this. where sometimes we're texting each other two, three in the morning, especially when we're laying stuff down. what if it goes wrong? Because, you know, at the end of the day, you're putting stuff in barrels. You know, you have to outlay a lot. Bourbon is a very capital intensive business. But what if it goes wrong? What happens? Something happens with the wheat? What if something happens with... You just don't know. So, when you get to this age statement, you know, five years ago, this was two years old when we started this. and being able to track and understand how it's doing, what floors of the rick house it's on. Is it closer to the river getting a little bit more of that moisture? Is it not? Do we need to move stuff? I mean, it's just, it's really, really special. It's nature and science.

It's like a baby though, right? It's like a baby.

It is and it's when you stake your life on it and it's a little intense but man, to see this come out like this and so, next year this will be eight year and what's amazing about that is we were on the air for eight years. So, eight years, one year in a barrel for every year we were on air. But you know, again, Hey, to us, not to sound, you know, ungrateful, but to us, this is a perfect whiskey. So, it's perfect at seven years. Thankfully, now it's flying off shelves, we have to bottle more of it. But we were like, should we just keep it at seven? What happens at eight? We don't know what's going to happen at eight. You know, and so you have these conversations. kind of makes my palms sweat a little bit, Paul. But we're gonna, you know, we're gonna we're gonna bottle some at eight. And it'll be very cool because it'll be what an amazing and also to, you know, eight is the is the is the number of infinity and this sort of this idea of these vampire brothers that sort of living for an eternity together. It's just a very special, very cohesive, you know, like, Again, I don't think you can find that level of story and quality and authenticity together.

I'll tell you what, when you print the number eight on the bottle, just turn it on its side. That'll tell the whole story right there.

There you go.

All right, folks, we're going to take a little break. We're going to continue sipping on this bottle and bond seven-year-old bourbon from Brothers Bond. And we're going to take a short break. And when we come back, we have another expression from Ian and Paul and a lot more to talk about. So stick around, folks. Few things pair better together than a fine whiskey and a premium cigar. and Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars are where flavor and craftsmanship meet. Their exclusive collection is meticulously hand-rolled from aged tobacco sourced from the Dominican Republic, reveled in the artistry that only decades of experience can bring. The owner, with over 10 years of cigar mastery, curates blends that capture the essence of family tradition and innovation. Embrace the journey and indulge in a harmonious symphony of Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars, an experience truly beyond compare. Find out more at SmokeysLifestyleCigar.com. When you're traveling the Bourbon Trail, location and comfort is everything. That's why I recommend making the Hill House Bed and Breakfast your home away from home. Located in the heart of Bourbon Country, the Hill House Bed and Breakfast is less than 5 minutes from the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky. giving you easy access to the Bardstown distilleries and all points of the Bourbon Trail. The owners, Cheryl and Jim, offer four comfortable and cozy rooms along with a gourmet hot plated breakfast every single morning. And, when you return from a long day of fun, it's time to enjoy a bit of the Bourbon Trail nightlife. Relax on the large outdoor patio complete with a blazing chiminea and solo stove, Or, curl up on the sofa and chairs, put a record on the turntable and relax with snacks and fruit in front of the gas fireplace. An evening at the Hill House is a perfect time to raise an urban glass full of cheer in the company of family and friends. We know you'll enjoy your stay at the Hill House Bed and Breakfast as much as we did. Find out more at thehillhousekontucky.com. All right, listeners, we are back. We had a fantastic break. We continue to sip on that bottle and bond. We actually got a little bit of an early look at our next pour here. And, uh, I'll let you guys introduce it to the folks. What are we sipping on in the second half?

We are sitting on our Brothers Bond straight bourbon whiskey made from American regenerative grain, which is a very unique thing. Not a lot of this on the market. Super proud of this release. This is something that we're excited about because for years since the start of the company, we have been talking about regenerative agriculture, we've been giving back a portion of all of our sales, growth sales towards regen ag. And finally, we're putting our money where our mouth is and we're creating a bourbon that is made from regenerative grain.

So let's talk a little bit about, for those who don't know what it is, what is regenerative grain? What does that mean? What does that mean to the person who's not in tune with agricultural methods and whiskey production and all those things? What does that mean to your average consumer?

Super, super simple. You know, the whole idea is regenerative agriculture really is just the use of plant grazing methods and using ultimately living growing plants, agriculture at scale to sequester enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, put it back in the ground where it belongs. Now when you do that, you feed all the vital microorganisms in the soil. So you think about it, healthier soil, healthier plant, right? unique flavors, cutting out a lot of the inputs and fertilizers and pesticides and fungicides, herbicides, fertilizers, and then the use of diesel within that to lay all that down. And so what you get is what Paul and I have been wanting to do since the very beginning, which is introduce two words that are very, very, very, they're not used in whiskey, but the wine world lives on it, which is terroir and season. So for us, we can tell you what fields this came from, who grew it, farmer, what the season was like. And for us, we're very proud of that because these grains, from Statesville, North Carolina, came from within five to 15 miles of the distillery. And for us, that's a big deal. So regenerative agriculture is a no-till practice of agriculture. Meaning, you know, we're also used to tilling, right? You see the discs and, you know, get that dark, beautiful soil. Well, that soil, the darkness of that soil, that's carbon in the soil. The problem is when you run a disc through it, You break up all those fungal networks and you break up that microbiome of the soil. Ultimately, it takes away its ability to grow really great crops and sequester enormous amounts of carbon while producing oxygen and revitalizing water stores and stuff. It's a really powerful, incredible movement that's happening. And we were, you know, we have the film, I was able to produce the films that sort of explain how it works. Now the most viewed environmental doc in the world called kiss the ground. And the second one common ground is launching on Amazon. very, very soon with Kiss the Ground. So you're going to be able to get a sense of what that means. But for Paul and I, while we're so proud of this, and listen, the Samuels family, who we are in awe of, you know, obviously Maker's Mark is an incredible brand. They have regenerative whiskey and barrels. It'll be ready in like six years, right? We get, we wanted this on the market and something Paul and I wanted to do from the very get-go, even five years ago saying, Hey, how can we get three year whiskey to taste like five or six year whiskey? Because four years is a long time to wait. But Paul and I never, we never wanted to put anything in bottles that was under four years. Well, we went into barrel innovation to make that happen. And there's no better person in the world to do that than Pete Barger down in Statesville, North Carolina. And, you know, this is a proprietary toast. Paul and I are really proud of this grain, you know, gets milled and not a hammer mill. It's not hot. You know, all that friction creates heat, scorches that corn. Ours is run by air, so there's no friction. It's a cool plate that it hits and unadulterated. So you taste that nuance. Even Fred was telling us, you know, it's again, it's that nuance of that grain. and that toast profile. And because the distillate is so pure, you know, you're looking to the barrel to pay for less sins of distillation, right? You're thinking about what char is, it's carbon, right? Carbon fixes things, it cleans things. So for us, We have a proprietary toast that we worked very closely with Pete Barger because he's a damn genius.

Pete and Vianna both are just amazing people. Yeah, tremendous.

Pete and Vianna are absolutely incredible. Paul and I and Vincent and our team, we're humbled to be their partners in this. I'll tell you, it does make the difference. You smell that nose. It's so distinct and inviting and nuanced.

Yeah, this has got a lot more vanilla than the bottle and bond does. This has got like a vanilla cream icing kind of going on.

Cream. It's got that cream, right? And by the way, you... You get that from that toast as well, and a little bit of that cereal grain, but the thing about it is, is you gotta remember too, and I know you know Pete in Vienna. they're comfortable with. Like we lose five to seven percent proof gallons a year just because the distillate has to be that clean. Otherwise, Pete won't put it into a barrel. And so, you know, Paul and I, we were like, is there any way we can bottle these high wines? You know, I mean, obviously you can, it's 136 proof, but you can just sip on them, man. And that's the thing. It's like, it just tastes like dirt and fruit, soil and fruit. It's magic, you know, when you start with that kind of distillate. So, Paul and I are really proud of this, man. Like Paul mentioned, we wanted to put our money where our mouth is and we wanted to make sure that people could get into what regenerative agriculture is and say, hey, this is really special. I'm going to check this out. And so, to anyone listening,

Yeah, I definitely am picking up. Now, this is not seven years, but this has got some things that disappear by seven years in it, right? Some things that are wonderful, that are in a whiskey that's just a couple of years younger, that tend to disappear as it spends more time in the barrel. But they're wonderful notes, they're great notes, they're more vanilla, a little bit of

I don't know like honey. It's brighter, it's honey. Yeah, it's like brighter, it's honey and maybe like there's almost a little like

sort of a nutty, and I'm not going to say it's a nutty hay note, but it's not hay. It's just this lighter, almost like a bran kind of note. And you get a little bit of the corn in there too, which is nice. And again, those are things that will disappear as the barrel ages further, becomes more of a well-aged bourbon or an extra-aged bourbon. Those things tend to disappear and you start to pick up the darker notes and the more tobaccoy and leathery notes and things like that come. But unfortunately, you lose these things, which are wonderfully surfacing in this in this whiskey here.

So it's a it's a really great point. And you make a great point. Well, you know, sometimes when people say a nose or mouth feels a little bit brighter, this has got a brighter quality. But the reality of it is, is it's backed up. by a little bit of caramel, a little bit of honey, at times even a little honeysuckle. But so, what we did was Paul and I, you know, this is a three-year and our six-year blended. And there's one other additional difference that I think, again, people will gravitate toward is The wood is from a northern part of the country. So these barrels, this six-year in particular is really special. These are northern barrels. You know, one of the things that Paul and I really loved about this is that nuance, which is it's a slower growth. It's a denser wood, a little bit different profile tighter. Yep. Exactly. The grains tighter. And so You know, when you kind of break all that down, you know, put it into terms, you're just getting a little bit different profile where the extraction is slightly different. But then you're looking at this toast profile, again, different extraction. You know, you're not looking to this barrel to pay for all these sins of dirty distillation. Um, and we're just, we're obsessed, man. And I think that's the takeaway, which is if you could give these two whiskies a try, I think what you'll find is, Hey, Paul and Ian are not just passionate about this. They make, they are in a sort of quest to create whiskies that like you mentioned earlier, Jim, just stand on their own. And that is, you know, again, if you're walking into that cranky or you want to impress that father-in-law or that brother-in-law or that friend or uncle or whoever, you can rest assured and Paul and I stand, you know, we believe with steadfast conviction that these two, they all hold up, you know, but these two really are conversation starters and they really open up that conversation because you bond. Paul, you and I bonded over this plenty of nights. That's for sure.

Yeah. And I also think like because the grain is grown in a different way. I think it tastes different. I think it has kind of a... I don't know. It's hard to explain. When we taste bourbon, it's always hard to find the right words. But there's kind of a taste of I would say like earthiness, like a weird, like kind of like a sort of you taste, you almost like taste the earth in a way that I think is lost a little bit with other bourbons. And it's just, I think it's a testament to the grain being so clean and so uniquely processed.

Yeah. This is a 95 proof. I don't know if we mentioned that before, but for a 95 proof, this has a wonderful texture to it. Now, did you chill filter this at 95? No. No, I didn't. I didn't take you. But you do chill filter your 80 proof, I would imagine.

Yeah, we do. We do chill filter our 80 proof. You know, because it gives us that level of consistency that that we can rest assured that it's, and it's, you know, it's not, to be honest with you, it's pretty wild. And I know a lot of people prefer it and then a lot of distillers too. I mean, a lot of distillers and blenders totally understand sometimes the difference in the value of it. But for us, we much prefer it, chill filtered, you know, and it allows us to rest assured that it's going to perform in that bottle.

Well, the, you know, our listeners are, our listeners, I think are fairly well educated and they understand once you drop below that 92 proof range, you start to get down in the eighties that if you don't chill filter your whiskies, you don't, you're not going to be shelf stable as far as appearance is considered.

So that flocking freaks people out. It does.

It does. And nobody's going to buy a cloudy bottle. So you get, you've got to make sure that doesn't happen. So people understand that. But once you get up in the 95 range, once you get to a hundred proof and 115, like your cast strength, Not a concern anymore, right?

So.

No, no. And it really is one of those things like literally underscores our desire and our gratitude that these turned out so well and that how fortunate we are to have been able to produce this. You know, and to any listeners out there, I mean, you know, predominantly you all are very well schooled on this. It's difficult to get this level of quality, but when you have a vision, and Paul and I love the same flavors, and one of the things is Paul and I travel the world every year, we have for many, now two decades of our careers. And it's funny, one of the things you notice about people whether you're in India, whether you're in Asia, whether you're in Ohio, or whether you're in South or Central America, Australia, whatever doesn't matter. Cool thing is, is that our palettes are really geared toward sweet and spicy, which I love. I love sweet and spicy. And this reflects There's some nuance in there especially with the baking spice, but these reflect all of our whiskies reflect that Those big predominant flavors now There's some real nuance in there with the baking spice and the nuttiness and the toasted cereal grain for sure but those big elements are always so well balanced. So we always think about like, how do we balance that sweet and that spicy together? That is really an experience that every time you have a sip, you know, even with our 80 proof, even if you're not an 80 proof person, you have that sip, you're going to get those notes, you know, you're going to get those notes. And that's, I think what makes people excited. It allows them to get into this category because it was never about diluting the burden.

So what's the price point on this bottle?

The bottled and bottled is $59.99. And the regen, am I wrong, Ian? How much is it? Isn't it $50 or $49?

No, it's $53.99. Okay. Okay.

In some places, it's $56.99, $57.99.

But again, you've got... This is a three-year and a six-year. It's a 95 proof. And you're getting... It's a pretty damn unique offering. And by the way, we only ran a little bit of this. So, you know, we're going to be bottling this again. And it's gonna be, you know, it's a lot of that grain, it's a different season, right? And so, one of the things that's cool is it's gonna be slightly different. It's gonna be like a wine. You're playing with, for us, playing with the science and the nature of this is what makes us excited.

Have you tried our, not to digress, I know we're focusing on these two skews, but have you tried our rye by any chance?

I haven't, but I tell you, I was looking over your other expressions and I thought I'd really like to try that rye because a rye is a good indicator because it's a difficult thing to do well.

I love this rye. I am crazy about it. I think it's just absolutely, we'd love to get you a bottle.

Yeah, I'm kind of a ride nut. So, I'd love to have a bottle of that.

No, no, we're gonna make sure we get you one. Because the thing is, man, that was our second expression. And it took six, it was six full months blending that. And a lot of trips back and forth with Sam Schmelter, you know, Red Eyes to TV, to CBG, to Northern Kentucky. But what it was, was it's changing the way people feel about ride. And we could have definitely very easily done like a 51% sort of barely legal rye. We didn't want to do that. Paul and I wanted to blend this for the gatekeepers, for the rye enthusiasts, for the purists, for the bartenders, the GMs, the chefs, all those guys and gals. So, the reality of it is that's what we went for. And a lot of people don't do four grain ryes, but I'll be completely honest with you, man. Paul and I, not to sound crass or like, you know, gross or anything, Paul and I were shitting in our pants, man. We were scared because the rye, you listen, it's a very small category, but it's a very specific category and only the big dogs play in that category, right? You've got to kind of have the balls to want to get into it and actually execute in it. So, we wanted to make sure that celebrity brand or not, someone tries this rye, you cannot argue with it. And that's what made us so. And it immediately became the favorite of the entire portfolio. And so, again, we're going to make sure you get a bottle of that because I want you to try it. Actually, I'll send it from here. I have this right here.

Yeah, Todd and I are both rye nuts, so we'll sit down with that bottle and we'll do a proper review of it. We love rye because rye change so rapidly as they age. They actually come to age much earlier than bourbons do. And then they go through this transition between four and six years. And then between six and eight, they turn candy like and they start going a totally opposite direction. It's like, they're just unreal. I mean, they're just, it's just amazing. And those people were able to create a ride that's just mind blowing in the sub five year range or true craftsman.

Now think about this, man. Think about, you know, what you're tasting. And the fact that Paul and I, we have our own rye, that's organic regenerative rye. And what you're talking about is sort of accelerating time in that sub five, you know, sort of category or age statement. Imagine what we're able to do with Pete and Vienna Barger with the level of the distillate that we're able to produce.

Yeah.

And the toasted barrel profiles that we're able to get to, imagine our own rye and those barrels with that sort of, you know, you see how our focus is, right? How do we build like just ultimate balanced flavor profiles? We are so damn over the moon to get this into barrels that we can hardly contain ourselves because that's the beauty of it, right? You know, when you're running your hands through your own grains and then watching them in that, you know, that the place that they build is just magic.

It's, it's most, you know,

one of the most beautiful distilleries in the world. So we're all excited. We're really excited. And thanks for, by the way, talking about that. Paul and I are obsessed with that too.

How about the whole manufacturing process? What do you think about this creating something that you can touch and feel and taste and sit down with and share with others? I mean, I know you guys have many years of creating of media content and movies and television series and all these kinds of things. And those are great. You put them out there and the public gets to experience it. And that's a wonderful thing in its own right. But when you create this product, this thing that you put in your glass and you sit down across from somebody and you look them in the eye and they're tasting it, they're telling you this thing you made, this product you put together is just fantastic. It's got to be a great feeling.

Yeah.

100%.

Well, actually, one of the best ones is when Paul and I are together, we're actually sipping this just together before even other people. It's just that looking across the table or the chair from each other and knowing that we've been through so much together. Sure. And this is what we're sipping together. It's just like, but then being able to talk to other people about it and watching them get excited or just exposing them to it for the first time.

I got a couple of buddies that, you know, when we first launched the company, they're like, oh, okay, cool. You got a bourbon company and they're like, yeah, sure. Yeah, no, I'll try it. I'll try it. And then it was just this like, Holy shit, this is good. And they were like, they're like, wait a minute, this is really good. Wait, hold on a minute, this is really good. And it's almost like this, like, they can't believe it's good, you know? And it's because, and I get it, I get it.

It's a... Well, it's because we're shitty actors, so our product was bad on screen.

Exactly.

Exactly. Well, you've been preceded, you've been preceded by a number of brands that haven't quite met the mark. I'm sure. We're not going to name any names here, but it has happened. It has happened. And when somebody comes through, when a notable person comes through with a label that actually delivers, it's such a refreshing thing. And it's so wonderful for us consumers out there to taste something that's just amazing. And there's a number of them out there that have done tremendous jobs. I mean, really, really good products. But there's a few that haven't, and unfortunately, it's the few that usually ruin it for the rest, right? So you guys got a big hill to climb, but I think you've conquered the peak. You're over the top. You guys have proven to everybody that you can earn no more.

That's super sweet of you.

You can put great whiskey in a bottle, and not only that, but you love the whiskey itself for what it is, and your true connoisseur is yourself. So that makes a big difference. That's all the difference in the world.

Hey Paul, remember that old saying? There's an old Cajun saying, it's like a bayou river of people and it's an old saying that this is no hill for a stepper. You know, the idea of like You just plot a course and you stick with it and you learn along the way and you kind of, you hold hands and you go into it and that's what we've been able to do. And for us, that's what's really exciting. So to talk to you and have your listeners hear this is a really big deal for us just by virtue of the fact that listen, like Paul mentioned earlier, it's very easy to write us off as just these sort of like, you know, vampire actory guys. We've built this from the ground up. We have an amazing team. It's tiny. And one of the things that when we first created this first blend, it took, you know, about 14 months, I think, total. Vincent Hanna, our CEO and co-founder, he said, guys, this platform that we built, right, is so good that, you know, we need to make sure that everything that comes off of this has the same DNA. Because what does a family have the same of, right? DNA. And you get this consistency within these different categories and these profile notes. And that's why Paul and I are over the moon now getting into what we know now is building, you know, listen, we have lofty goals and one of them is to build the truly the first truly regenerative spirits company in the world. Well, that quality of grain and grain to glass is going to give us that ability. And fortunately, we have access to it, right? We've got fields, hundreds of acres of grains growing that are ours. And so we're just excited to share that with you. And so, if these two whiskeys are any indicators of how far we're willing to go and how many nights we're willing to stay up and to get just endless amounts of just you know, profile and range that you trust us and that we think of you like us. So, if we were walking into a dinner party or a drinks party or a family outing or just to friends around the campfire that you can feel, you could trust us to put what's in that bottle that you won't be let down. And I think that's the story that Paul and I really want to tell, which is, again, it goes back to story and quality. You know, the story got us here and the quality will get us there and continue to be able to be a part of your life. You know what I mean? Fantastic.

Absolutely. Can't have one without the other. Right.

Kind of like you and me, Paul.

We're looking for great things from you guys in the future. We didn't really get a chance to get into much of that. I'm assuming you're You're on a traditional path to eventually have your own kind of facility or some sort of a visitor experience at some point in the future.

Yeah. Yeah. So in my bathtub, we're going to do like a whole

Yeah, yeah. We'd love to have our own distillery. You know, we're not there yet. But well, the dream that I mean, look, the dream, to be honest with you is to go to Kentucky and have our own distillery. Let's let's be honest. That's the birthplace. So, you know, but there are some awesome places all over the United States that make killer bourbon. So, you know, you can't you can't just be, you know, kind of limited to thinking just Kentucky. But obviously, that's like, you know, sort of the birthplace. That's the pipe dream.

We've got our roots buried in the places that mean the most. Kentucky, Indiana and Statesville. And I think one of the things that people forget when they don't I know when you go back to like, you know, the bottle and bonnet act of 1897, you look at Statesville. It was at the time, turn of the century in 1897 actually, I want to say, and don't quote me on it, but it's close. I think 90% of all spirits whiskey bottled in the United States were bottled in Statesville, North Carolina. everything was shipped down there by a rail. And you know, the history that we have been able to experience in some of these rick houses and with our whiskey and talking to these farmers and stuff is blown our minds. And so, we're excited. We're excited to show, you know, We're excited to show, to spread our wings and show what we've got coming down the pipeline and our dream ultimately. Yeah, of course to have our own, our own place to call home. But for right now we've got these, we've got, we've got some really deep roots and some heavy barrels in these places. So thank you listeners. Thank you brother for telling the story. Paul and I are infinitely grateful because as you know, It's not easy for sure. It was easy. Everyone would do it. But the payoff is these conversations experiencing this and saying, Hey, this inspire. I like this guys. That's that's for us. That's everything.

Well, we'd like to give you guys an opportunity to sort of close out by giving our listeners a little bit of an idea on how they can find you all, how they could find what you have going on, your website, your social media accounts, that kind of stuff. I did want to say that Morgan passed on to our listeners a coupon code that can be used on your website. BB Podcast 20, BB is for Brothers Bond. Podcast 20 is the coupon code and our listeners can use that on your website for whatever's available for purchase on your website. You guys have a great website, so I certainly encourage them to go there and check that out and use that coupon code to purchase some swag or hats or shirts or whatever it might be. Thank you. But again, we'd like to give you an opportunity to sort of close out by giving our listeners some contact information beyond that, or maybe just mention the website.

I'll give you Ian's email address. How's that? Customer complaints, just email Ian directly. Yeah. Well, we have... Or Ian's TikTok. No. Go to... As you had mentioned, thank you. You're very kindly mentioning BrothersBondBurban.com. We worked hard on that website. We have our story, our process. We have all of our different bottles, products, different SKUs. We have some killer merch that we have created and designed. We have barware. We have all kinds of stuff. So check that out. And then obviously, our Instagram Brothers Bond. We're actually the most followed alcohol brand on Instagram. Full stop. Yeah, we beat the rock. Yeah, we haven't beaten a lot of things. That's the one thing we beat the rock in. Okay. Definitely won't be an arm wrestling competition.

Definitely.

Yeah. Um, but, uh, but yeah, so that and, uh, yeah. And, and obviously Ian and I, you know, our socials were always posting about Brothers Bond. Uh, and, um, you know, I think I believe we have a Facebook page as well, Brothers Bond Facebook page, but yeah, but the website, the website should give you all the info you need and, uh, and yeah.

And follow us online for stuff. You know, it's again, it's like we're not like broken record, but I get the stigma of these celebrity brands. I beg you to try these two and you'll learn we're not that just celebrity brand.

We worked hard on this and man, it's definitely- And we also, sorry to interrupt, we also have a killer mailing list. So if you go on BrothersBondBurman.com and you sign up for our newsletter, you'll actually get first access to any new releases. So if we have, you know, when we released our bottled and bond, our subscribers got first dibs on it and our subscribers got first dibs on the regen. So it's cool to not only get first look at different releases, but also just to stay in touch and, you know.

You know what, too? I mean, not to sound cheeky, but we also, too, man, it's actually quite fun what we've been able to do. We produce a playlist. We build, like, for different seasons and stuff. And it's a lot of fun. I mean, we work our butts off on this. And it's a lot of fun. We release these playlists and these newsletters. And it comes from us. Like, this is what we do, you know?

So cool. So cool. So awesome. Well, it's a pleasure for us to have you guys on the show. I hope as you release new products, you'll keep the Bourbon Road and our listeners in mind and you'll include us in the releases so that we can pass the word. And you know, the next time you're in the Louisville, Kentucky area, the Frankfurt, Kentucky or Bardstown, Kentucky area, You know, we're located right here. Our studio is within, you know, 20 minutes of all those locations. So we'd love to have you in the studio one day to drink whiskey in person and maybe share a new expression with us as you release it. So maybe that'll happen sometime in the future.

That would be amazing. Listen, let's just make it happen. That would be incredible. Yeah, man.

So we're, we're at, and I think you can see on the screen, we're at episode 419. We've been doing this a little while. I think if you add up all the episodes of friends and then maybe throw in some vampire diaries, we might be right about 400 and some anyway, but are you going to have, are you going to have Willie Nelson on for episode 420? I've got a friend that looks like Willie Nelson. We might have, yeah, 420. How about that?

He's got some, uh, he's got some, uh, some, uh, you wouldn't want about that.

Yeah. I mean, interstate 420, my wife loves that. She's got a little sign on the bar down there. It says interstate 420. So.

Hey, listen, congrats on the show. By the way, I speak for both of us. That is a feat, my friend. You guys are killing it. Please give Todd our love. Thank you guys for allowing us on here. And speaking to your listeners, I mean, this is a family. And it's technically kind of like a family business. Our dear brother Jensen has a beer company called Family Business. And we always joke, he and I always joke, this is a family business. This is what we're doing. This is our legacy. Uh, and it allows us a tremendous amount of entry points into agriculture, into business, into, you know, pop culture, all those things. But for us bonding over a dram, uh, whether it's one of these or in a little red solo cup, whatever, you know, here we go.

Absolutely.

All right. Well, I'll ask you to, to stick around for just a few minutes where I'm going to close out the show here and we'll have a quick chat afterwards. But, uh, folks, we'd love to have you join the bourbon road every single week on Wednesdays. We put out an episode. You can find us on all the social media outlets. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, tick tock threads, all those places. But if you're listening to us on a podcast, scroll up to the top of that app you're on, hit that subscribe button. That way every single week you'll get a notification that the Bourbon Road, Jim and Todd have dropped another episode and you'll get to enjoy another drive down the road, cutting the grass, mowing the lawn, sweeping the house, whatever it is you do with your headphones on. We'd love to be a part of that day. But until the next time, we'll see you down the Bourbon Road.

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