Sips & Sites & Bites

Veterans Day, a date when Americans celebrate the sacrifice and service of their military men and women.

And one fellow veteran is recognizing the date, Nov. 11th, by releasing his Dread River Distilling Co. Master Series Batch 2, a limited-edition bourbon produced with a little help from his special (forces) friends. 

A statement from Dread River noted that after releasing an inaugural Master Series bourbon in January of 2023, the distillery enlisted help from a different kind of master for round two, United States Air Force Master Sergeant Trey Bruner. 

For this release, only 500 bottles of this bourbon were made, aged first in American oak, then French oak casks. They will be available nationwide beginning on Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11th.

Dread River Master Series Batch 2 was selected and bottled by assistant distiller, Trey Bruner, a 20-year USAF combat controller veteran with eight combat deployments. Bruner comes to Dread River via the Department of Defense’s Skill Bridge program, which connects transitioning service members with industry partners in real-world job experiences.

The statement from Dread River goes on to explain that after two years in training, the longest of any U.S. Special Operations Force, Bruner’s career as a CCT spanned deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and beyond. 

Those combat tours saw him attach with teams of America’s most elite Special Missions Units (Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets, etc.) 

“As my career in the military was coming to an end, I started to think about that next phase of life and what I would like to do,” Bruner said.

“Being from Louisville, Kentucky, I’ve always had bourbon in my blood. CCT is certainly a challenging career, in many ways. The physical and mental pressures of controlling a few dozen aircraft loaded with thousands of pounds of bombs and directing them onto targets can be intense,” he added. “You end up getting close to the guys and it can sometimes be hard to just shut that off. As I transitioned away from that, I wanted to make sure I replaced that sense of belonging and community with something new. Dread River has really helped me with that.”

The transition from military service to civilian work can be challenging for some service members. Bruner said the transition from CCT service to his role as an assistant distiller allowed him to make the most of his technical abilities and strategic planning skills in a rewarding environment.

Under the mentorship of head distiller, Joshua Goins, Bruner was tasked with barrel maturation management. During the process of pulling samples for analysis, Bruner said he encountered a unique bourbon that was aging in a 60-gallon French oak cask. He selected this single-cask bourbon to be the next Master Series and bottled it in honor of fellow veterans.

For the Master Series Batch 2 Bourbon, Dread River transferred the straight bourbon originally aged in American oak casks for one year into a 60-gallon French oak cask for an additional two years. 

The distiller noted that the French-oak finishing rounds out the flavors and provides additional vanilla and caramel flavors. The straight bourbon was distilled with a mash bill of 60 percent corn, 30 percent wheat, and 10 percent malted barley. It’s hand-bottled at cask strength, clocking in at 106 proof, 53% ABV. 

“Bringing Trey onto our team has given everyone here a valuable sense of perspective,” said John Cubelic, founder of Dread River Distilling Co. “We tend to hyperbolize mundane things because they appear to be important in a given moment but what he has experienced in his military career is beyond our wildest nightmares. His mental and physical strength, his intelligence, his character are all things we admire and want to celebrate. We are proud to have Trey and to support the CCT community, and the entire USAF and DoD.”

Dread River’s Master Series Batch 2 Bourbon has a suggested retail price of $106.99. The distillery will host the premiere of its second “Dreadventure” episode, highlighting the career of MSGT Bruner and CCT community at a launch event in Birmingham on Veteran’s Day. 

Dread River is a partner of the First There Foundation, which benefits CCT members and their families.