Ian Somerhalder chats American whiskey trends
“The world is a very strange and quite divided place, but it’s our job to lift it up, to bring the sentiment up, bring the energy up,” said Ian Somerhalder. We discussed in detail key American whiskey trends with the Brother’s Bond Bourbon co-founder.
Somerhalder – who co-founded Brother’s Bond with fellow star of TV show The Vampire Diaries Paul Wesley, and Vincent Hanna, the brand’s CEO – spoke about the key developments he’d witnessed in American whiskey during the year between March 2025 and 2026.
Speaking during a session at The Spirits Business Hub at ProWein, when asked about trends he said: “One of the things last year that struck me as so unique, is people want to talk about the world without talking about the world.”
The conversation continued to discuss how newer drinkers were finding their way into the American whiskey category.
Somerhalder continued: “There was something that we just saw that was like a ‘top 10’ in the world, and the category that we were being called was ‘best modern-day drinker’.
“So, for a palate, that was about experiencing really dynamic flavours but in real life for us, it’s about balance. From a marketing perspective, I would say it’s how do you give a consumer, a customer, a drinker, a friend, something more without charging them a dollar or a penny more?
“That comes from flavour. That comes from quality. It comes from accessibility. It comes from great pricing, where we’ve literally slashed our margins to make sure that we’re getting this into people’s hands because greed does nothing for anyone.
“How do you also give someone something more than just flavour? You give them a feeling. You give them the ability to bond. You give them the ability to know that what they’re buying is actually helping the planet in some way, shape or form,” he added, noting the brand’s Regenerative Grain Bourbon.
The full conversation with Somerhalder is available to watch via the link below and on The Spirits Business’ YouTube channel.
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