The newest release from the celebrity partnership blends 70 barrels for a powerful high-proof experience. (photo s courtesy of the distillery)

Among other claims, Brothers Bond Bourbon says that its 1.77 million followers make it “the most followed alcohol brand on Instagram.” As impressive as that actually is, if you’ve come this far you won’t be surprised to hear that we at the Globe are more concerned with whether its new bottling is worth 80 bucks or not. (We admit to being ever-so-slightly influenced by the company’s assertion that it dedicates “a portion of proceeds to support regenerative farming practices.”)

The new Brothers Bond Cask Strength is priced right at $80. It overdelivers not just in terms of power (57.9% ABV) but in complexity and pleasure. Notes of leather and nutty candies drench the palate, with slight overtones of banana. Rye plays a strong role. A blend from 70 different barrels, the result seemed to me a great balance of power and finesse, and was recently awarded a Gold at the  San Francisco World Spirits Competition. It does just what you want an overproofed whiskey to do.

Wesley and Somerhalder. Scary good-looking. Might actually be vampires.

The faces of this brand are Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley. Both are dark and handsome. Somerhalder had a great run on the TV hit Lost, though, as Wikipedia notes, he was “the first major character to die.” He went on the perform in another TV hit, The Vampire Diaries, where he and Wesley became friends. On Paramount+, Wesley plays a young Captain Kirk, in the latest Trek spinoff. Immortals and space cowboys need bourbon, too.

It’s more juice out of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and there’s an awful lot of it these days, but so much of it is good that the whiff of … inauthenticity? has long since blown off (Hello, Bulleit and Templeton and others). And like those brands, the proof is in the bottle. We liked the flagship bottling OK, but this is one we’ll really look for. Convention would call for an ice cube, but we are taking ours neat and liking it.