The Unexpectedly Intense Origin Story Of Horse Soldier Bourbon

With three award-winning bourbons tasting various levels of caramel and oak available for your bourbon old-fashioned recipes, the one thing that's obvious about Horse Soldier Bourbon is the product they sell. "Horse Soldier" evokes images of leathery soldiers on horseback, weary from travel, which is in line with every bourbon ad since (checks watch) time immemorial. But the real story is one wild ride. It features a special forces team, spirited stallions, and an impossible mission, all against the backdrop of the first Gulf War. 

It was October 19, 2001, only a month since the devastating 9/11 attacks. A small but formidable team of Green Berets took a helicopter to rural Afghanistan, preparing to embark on a daring mission. Then came the cinema-worthy curveball. The "indigenous animals" they were told might be part of the mission were, in fact, untrained Afghan horses borrowed from locals. Nonetheless, they rode those stallions across the rugged Afghan terrain and into the origin story of American Freedom Distillery. 

It was after transitioning to civilian life that Horse Soldiers Scott Neil, Rob Schaefer, Mark Nutsch, Bob Pennington, Tyler Garner, and John Koko, along with Elizabeth Pritchard-Koko, channeled that Green Beret spirit and dedication into their new venture. They just had to figure out what it was going to be. 

Back in the day, the Horse Soldiers teamed up with Afghan warlords and resistance fighters to capture a key Taliban stronghold, despite being heavily outnumbered. But Scott Neil wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his post-military life. He just knew it wasn't working for the government.

Then, while taking a trip in Idaho with fellow Horse Soldier John Koko and his wife Elizabeth Pritchard-Koko — befittingly on horseback — they met a couple who ran a craft distillery. The couple let them in on the ins and outs of their operation — like the differences between bourbon and whiskey and how a distillery runs — and the seed was planted. They dove in headfirst. They spent time touring other craft distilleries, traveling to Scotland and Ireland to learn from experienced brewers there, and then back to the U.S., where some attended a formal training school in Kentucky, famed for being bourbon country. But all that hard work and education paid off in the form of Horse Soldier Bourbon and the now-successful distillery they run with several other original Horse Soldiers.

While they initially feared their military background didn't prepare them for running a business, they couldn't have been more wrong. As Neil told U.S. Veteran Magazine, "I found it was the same as my prior service — culture, responsibility, work ethic — all are skills transferable to the next life of being an entrepreneur."