The Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force are represented in every pour of Four Branches Bourbon.
Every schoolchild knows that bourbon, by law, must contain no less than 51 percent corn in its mash bill. Typically, bourbon distillers will round out the formula with smaller quantities of malted barley and rye, in rare cases substituting the latter with wheat to enhance the spirit’s sweetness and nuttiness. Almost never will you find a bourbon that contains all four grains – but then, Four Branches is no ordinary bourbon. The brainchild of four ex-servicemen representing each branch of the U.S. military, the spirit originated as a fundraising project to aid the family of a mutual friend who lost his life while working as a CIA security freelancer in the Middle East. “That was the thread that united us,” co-founder Mike Trott, a Peoria resident and former U.S. Air Force serviceman, says. “A desire to help family members of contractors who are killed, wounded or disabled [overseas]… because often they lack [death] benefits. The military can’t do it, the government can’t do it, so we started Four Branches to help.” Trott diagrammed the mission.
Early on, Trott and co-founders Rick Franco (U.S. Marine Corps) and Harold Underdown (U.S. Navy) realized they needed a fourth partner. “Just kind of joking, we said, ‘Let’s find an Army guy.’” Their recruit: ex-U.S. Army security specialist and sometime movie consultant RJ Casey, who was filming Extraction with Chris Hemsworth in Prague when they approached him.
The partners also realized the project would require more scale than the single barrel they originally envisioned. So, they reached out to Bourbon Hall of Fame inductee Steve Nally of Bardstown Bourbon Company in Louisville to manage production.
After intensive tasting sessions and consultation with Bardstown’s chemistry experts, Trott and co. struck on a formula blending two different finished bourbons: a traditional, 21-percent-rye spirit distilled in Indiana, and a silkier, wheated bourbon from Kentucky. “We wanted something unique, that was special to us,” Trott says of the novel mash bill.
Eighteen months and 31,000 bottles later, Four Branches has raised $400,000 for veterans and security contractor charities. Next on their battle plan: Four Branches Black Ops, a limited-edition, rye-forward bourbon finished in Caribbean rum casks.
$88 Four Branches Founders Blend. Available at Trevor’s Liquors and other Valley retailers.
