TASTE Fall 2022

Getting to Know Paul Wesley & Ian Somerhalder

HOW LONG INTO YOUR FRIENDSHIP, AND THE SHOW, DID YOU DECIDE YOU WOULD MAKE BOURBON? PAUL: As long as I can remember, it was something we wanted to do. IAN: Brother’s Bond is 12 years in the making. Paul and I were always drinking bourbon on set [it was actually tea]. When they were drinking bourbon and reminiscing, it was the only time our characters Damon and Stefan didn’t want to kill each other. WHY BOURBON? WAS IT BECAUSE IT WAS THE BROTHERS’ FAVOURITE DRINK? PAUL: I fell in love with bourbon as a result of shooting [The Vampire Diaries] in the south. IAN: I was a bayou kid. I remember afternoons after church, my family drinking Mint Juleps made from bourbon, mint and sugarcane. Sugarcane was everywhere; it grew like fences around our property. You’d just hack some down if you wanted to get through. WHAT WOULD DAMON SALVATORE HAVE SAID THE FIRST TIME HE TASTED BROTHER’S BOND? IAN: I think about that a lot and laugh, I think he’d say, “that’s damn good.” LET’S TALK ABOUT THE LABEL. PAUL: The tree has all the mash ingredients of our bourbon, and the brothers are protected by it below as they lean against it.

Photo courtesy of Brother’s Bond

C reated by actors Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley, Brother’s Bond Straight Bourbon Whiskey is a new whiskey and the first for the duo. Crafted in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, the spirit represents the bond created between the men while filming eight seasons of the uber-popular CW series, The Vampire Diaries. Even after spending five days per week for 10 months a year, while playing vampire brothers Damon (Somerhalder) and Stefan (Wesley) Salvatore, the two are rarely out of touch. Released four years after the series finale, Brother’s

Bond is an exceedingly approachable bourbon, warm and smooth with subtle apricot, spice and nutty flavours. Now that it’s arrived in BC, and brand new to BCLIQUOR stores’ shelves, we reached out to the best friends to learn more. DID YOU FIRST MEET ON THE SET OF VAMPIRE DIARIES? PAUL: We technically met in the valley in Los Angeles. We had both been cast on the series and they sent us to a dental clinic to get our fangs fitted.

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