There's a bourbon company out there that didn't start with a marketing team or a focus group. It started with four veterans who came home from four different branches of the United States military — the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Marine Corps — and decided that some stories are too important to forget. That's the foundation Four Branches Bourbon was built on, and right now, the brand is making some of its biggest moves yet.
A Mission That Goes Beyond the Glass
Four Branches has always been upfront about what it stands for. The company was built with a stated purpose of honoring service, preserving the stories of those who served, and giving back to veterans who are still making a difference in communities across the country. That mission doesn't just live on a website — it runs through every bottle the company puts out.
May is National Military Appreciation Month, and with Armed Forces Day falling on May 16 and Memorial Day arriving on May 25, the timing couldn't be more fitting for what Four Branches is releasing right now. The brand is asking people to slow down, think about the men and women whose service made ordinary American life possible, and raise a glass with some real intention behind it.
The phrase the company uses is "Sip to Remember." For a brand rooted in military brotherhood, that's not just a tagline. It's a philosophy.
Founders Reserve: The New Flagship
The big news out of Four Branches is the arrival of Founders Reserve, the brand's new flagship bourbon. This is the release that's meant to carry the company's identity forward, and everything about it reflects that kind of weight.
Founders Reserve is a four-grain Kentucky Straight Bourbon, bringing together corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley. It's aged a minimum of five years in charred new American white oak barrels and crafted in Bardstown, Kentucky — a city that has more than earned its reputation as the bourbon capital of the world. The four-grain recipe is a direct nod to the four branches of military service that give the company its name. Four founders. Four grains. One vision.
On the nose and palate, Founders Reserve delivers what serious bourbon drinkers look for without overcomplicating things. Expect honey right up front, followed by warm toffee, caramel, gingerbread, and vanilla bean. There's a slight touch of toasted oak underneath all of that, and the mouthfeel is described as buttery — smooth in a way that feels earned rather than engineered.
The finish is where Founders Reserve really makes its case. It's long and creamy, and it brings out the balance of all four grains in a way that's easy to appreciate even if you're not spending your evenings with a bourbon journal. The sweetness from the corn and wheat carries through, and there's a subtle hint of rye spice and oak that keeps things interesting without turning sharp.
The bourbon comes in smooth upfront and closes with what the brand calls the "Kentucky Kiss" — that familiar, gentle warmth on the back end that longtime bourbon drinkers know well. It's not a burn. It's a finish. And for a pour built around honoring people who gave a lot, it feels like exactly the right note to end on.
Founders Reserve is available now through the Four Branches website and through select local retailers. For anyone heading into Memorial Day weekend looking for something to bring to a cookout or share with someone who served, this one fits the occasion.
Liberty Reserve: Only 1,776 Bottles in Existence
Image credit: Four Branches
If Founders Reserve is the flagship, Liberty Reserve is the crown jewel — and it's coming soon.
Four Branches is preparing to release Liberty Reserve as a tribute to America's 250th anniversary, and the details on this one are remarkable. It's a nine-year-old Four Grain Double Oak bourbon, which already puts it in rare company just on the age statement alone. A nine-year bourbon has been sitting in wood through a significant stretch of American life, picking up layers that younger whiskeys simply don't have the time to develop.
The double oak process adds another dimension. Running the spirit through an additional oak treatment deepens the wood character and adds complexity that single-barrel aging alone typically can't match. The result, from everything Four Branches has described, is a bourbon built for a once-in-a-generation occasion.
And then there's the number: only 1,776 bottles will ever exist.
That's not an accident. The number is a direct reference to 1776, the year the Declaration of Independence was signed and the year the United States formally announced itself to the world. As the country approaches its 250th birthday, Four Branches is marking the moment with a release that is, by design, impossible to replicate. Once those 1,776 bottles are gone, they're gone. There won't be another batch, another label, another run. This is it.
The brand has been building anticipation for Liberty Reserve through its subscriber list, with those on the email list set to receive early notification when online availability opens. Given the nature of the release — 1,776 bottles for an entire country of bourbon drinkers — anyone who's serious about getting one would be wise not to wait around once that window opens.
Finding Four Branches Near You
For those who prefer to shop in person rather than online, Four Branches has a store locator available through its website. The company recommends calling ahead and asking for Four Branches by name, since inventory can vary by location.
Whether it's picking up Founders Reserve for Memorial Day weekend, gifting a bottle to someone with a history of service, or simply tracking down Liberty Reserve before it disappears entirely, local retailers who carry Four Branches can help navigate the options.
Why This All Matters Right Now
There are a lot of bourbon brands on the market. New labels appear constantly, and the competition for shelf space — and attention — is real. What sets Four Branches apart isn't just what's in the bottle, though what's in the bottle is genuinely worth talking about. It's the reason the brand exists at all.
The founders didn't come from the spirits industry. They came from the military. They built something together because they believed service deserved to be remembered in a lasting way, and because they wanted the act of sitting down with a good bourbon to carry some meaning beyond the moment itself.
Founders Reserve and Liberty Reserve are both expressions of that belief. One is built for everyday enjoyment — a five-year, four-grain pour that's balanced enough for regular rotation and meaningful enough for special occasions. The other is a once-in-a-generation limited release that marks 250 years of American history with a bottle count that makes the point without saying a word.
For anyone who values good bourbon and believes that raising a glass should occasionally mean something, Four Branches has built something worth paying attention to. This May, with the nation pausing to recognize the people who made its freedoms possible, the timing of these releases feels less like coincidence and more like intention.
That's the whole point.
