By Mike Trott, co-founder of Four Branches Bourbon
What started out of a desire to acquire a single barrel of bourbon to remember a fallen friend and Marine and raise a glass in his honor resulted in the creation of a bourbon company steeped deep in American patriotic pride.
Four Branches Bourbon is the only spirit company founded by veterans from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. I am one of the four founders, a U.S. Air Force veteran (10 years) and former CIA agent and have been a local Peoria resident for the past 10 years.
The mission of Four Branches is to deliver exceptional bourbon to honor the sacrifices of all those who serve in the shadows and share their inspiring stories.
The other three founders also have long military careers spanning decades: Alfred “Rick” Franco (VMI Grad, former Marine Infantry Officer and former CIA Senior Contractor), Harold Underdown (former Navy SEAL and retired Command Master Chief), and Robert “RJ” Casey (former Army Special Forces current Air Force Special Operations). Our paths had crossed many times over the years, but it wasn’t until Rick had a lightbulb moment that the four of us officially came together to create Four Branches.
Franco’s Virginia Military Institute classmate and eventual CIA colleague, Greg Wright Jr., died in service overseas and Rick repatriated Greg to his family. He’s shared that Greg was a hero – helping to save others’ lives but lost his. It was through processing this that Rick came up with the idea to blend a barrel of bourbon as a way to honor Greg and all of the other unsung heroes in our lives. We decided this message of honoring those who are important in our lives was not just for us, it was a message that others would want to share as well. Thus, we moved forward not to create just a barrel, but a business.
We enlisted the help of bourbon industry veterans to help us craft the best bourbon. The Founders Blend is the first version we have released and it has won several awards at national spirits competitions in 2024, including a Gold Medal in the Ascot Awards Competition and a Double Gold Medal at the prestigious SIP Awards. In keeping with the brand, it is a 4-grain blend at 96 proof, with an incredibly smooth taste of hazelnut, maple and cinnamon-infused orange with a long creamy finish, with notes of vanilla.
Giving back is another big part of our mission. Since launching our brand in May 2023, Four Branches has helped raise more than $370,000 for national and local veterans organizations. As veterans, we are very cognizant of the impact of selling alcohol and are working to change the narrative around drinking. Bourbon is often used to pay tribute, share a quiet moment, tell stories and bring people together. Our trademarks are “Serve Honorably. Drink Honorably.” And we want to encourage people to “Sip to Remember,” not drink to forget.
We also want to be role models for other veterans, showing that through teamwork, other veterans and first responders can pursue a passion and launch another career after their service to country and community.
Since our launch 18 months ago, our Founders Blend has been available in 32 states for online home delivery. Since then, we have expanded our distribution network and are now available in stores, bars and restaurants in seven states (Arizona, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia). You can find specific locations under “Find Locally” on our website www.fourbranches.com and we encourage followers to sign up for our newsletter, Mail Call, for more exciting updates.
We are proud to be able to introduce our award-winning bourbon, blended and bottled in Bardstown, Kentucky, to the public and share our message of honoring all those around us who are heroes, in all the ways people come together to be there for each other.
Mike Trott was born and raised in East Tennessee but enlisted in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) from Arizona in 1984. While in the USAF he served six of his 10 years in Germany assigned as a Security Forces trainer to special small teams before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as in undercover narcotics investigations. He worked as a Special Agent assigned to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and then continued to work in the private sector in high net wealth Executive Protection. He is also the author of the nonfiction book, The Protected.
