Saddle up: Local bourbon brand has a story to tell

Organization: Foley Family Wines. Founded by Bill Foley, who also owns the Las Vegas Golden Knights NHL team, Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Foley Family Wines represents dozens of wine and liquor brands worldwide. It also makes its own wines and spirits.

Client: American Freedom Distillery. One of the latest additions to St. Petersburg’s craft brewing and distilling scene, AFD was founded by a group of former U.S. Army Green Berets whose inspiring true story was told in “12 Strong,” a 2018 film starring Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon. “We are the brand,” says President John Koko, 60, part of the team of elite soldiers that infiltrated Afghanistan, on horseback, in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to gather intelligence on the Taliban. “But there’s an old saying, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.’ We needed to figure out how to build a bigger team to go farther.”