Horse Soldier Bourbon has always had more backstory than the average bottle. The Kentucky-based brand was founded by a group of retired Green Berets who, after hanging up their uniforms, decided that the next logical step was mastering the art of bourbon. They trained with distillers in Kentucky, Scotland, and Ireland, launched American Freedom Distillery, and built a following fast — projecting sales of 1,000 cases in their first year and selling through that in the first month. The brand hasn’t slowed down since, earning double gold three times at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and cementing a reputation for whiskeys built to sip, not mix.
Their Liberty Edition is the most ambitious bottling they’ve produced yet. A 13-year Kentucky Straight Bourbon bottled at 100 proof and limited to exactly 1,776 bottles, it was released to mark America’s 250th anniversary and carries an SRP of $799. 1,776 isn’t subtle, but it doesn’t need to be. More importantly, aged in new American oak, it’s the oldest and rarest expression in the Horse Soldier portfolio to date. Thirteen years is a genuine commitment in a category where five often passes for mature, and it shows in the positioning: this is a considered acquisition, not an impulse buy.
The bottle is a large part of the conversation. Formed from bespoke French glass referencing the Statue of Liberty’s Parisian origins, it features an antiqued copper label designed to echo the monument’s famous patina and a gold flame closure at the crown. The whole thing has a sculptural quality that earns it a place on the shelf even before it’s even opened — which, frankly, many of these 1,776 bottles never will be. That’s not a criticism. It’s the point.
The name is also of interest: it traces to the real-life “Horse Soldiers,” the U.S. Army Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of September 11 attacks. Operating in rugged terrain where conventional vehicles were ineffective, these Green Berets partnered with local forces and rode on horseback—an image that became emblematic of an unconventional, highly adaptive mission. Their story was later depicted in the film 12 Strong and memorialized at America’s Response Monument near Ground Zero, grounding the brand’s identity in that moment of modern American history.
A portion of proceeds from each bottle benefits the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Foundation. And the release arrives just ahead of a big moment for the brand: Horse Soldier Farms, a new distillery and hospitality destination in Somerset, Kentucky, is set to open on July 4, 2026. The facility will include a restaurant, outdoor event spaces, and access to nearby Lake Cumberland — a full destination experience built around the kind of long-aged whiskey program that Liberty Edition previews.
For collectors chasing limited allocations with genuine age statements and a design narrative to match, this one checks every box.
Photos courtesy of Horse Soldier Bourbon
