Scott Neil is a retired Green Beret, a cofounder (with John Koko, Bob Pennington, Mark Nutsch, and Elizabeth Pritchard-Koko) of Horse Soldier Bourbon, and one of the most intentional people I have met in American whiskey. He built his bourbon business the way he built a military mission, step by step, from the ground up.
The Whiskey Story of a Patriot
Scott joined me from snowy Kentucky and started talking about “chasing the elusive sunshine.” He said he had rain in Florida, rain in Scotland, and snow back home in Kentucky. It felt like the weather was trying to keep him moving.
That restless motion fits him.
“Bourbon and drinking with friends is just a prelude to a great storytelling session,” Scott said. That simple line captures his whole approach.
For Scott, whiskey is the medium for a bigger story about service, curiosity, and building something legendary that should still matter a hundred years from now. “No good story ever started over a salad,” he said,
The origin story of Horse Soldier starts in the middle, as Scott tells it. Scott compares the birth of Horse Soldiers to a Quentin Tarantino film. “You ever see him where you start in the middle of something, and it is just all action?” he asked. Scott drops you into the middle of the story with a group of friends who served together as Green Berets and loved bourbon enough to start asking questions about how it is really made.
In 2015, after retiring from the Army, Scott and some military friends took a trip to Yellowstone to figure out what in the world came next. They found, almost by accident, a small craft distillery in Driggs, Idaho. They walked in, just like any tourist, and were handed vodka made from potato flakes. That small surprise pulled a thread.
“They teach you about the ingredients behind what they make,” Scott said. “This started our discovery.” He followed the distiller into the back and watched the art and science of distillation up close. “My buddies realized for the first time there is a lot behind the velvet rope,” Scott said.
That moment changed the trajectory of his life.
Studying the Master’s Like Kung Fu
Here’s how Scott describes his whiskey education: “The teaching was like Kung Fu,” he said. “You could watch Karate Kid all day long, but unless you study with a master, you do not get the essence.” For him, the distilling world had plenty of movies and not enough real training.
That is why he and his partners did something most American whiskey founders do not do. They started pulsing their network worldwide. The first call went to a friend from the Royal Marines who had started his own bourbon business. According to Scott, his friend, “Just started a Scotch distillery in Wolfburn, the northernmost city of Scotland. He said ‘If you want to come to Scotland, I will put you to work.’”
So Scott and his buddies went to Scotland. They opened grain sacks, milled grain, and turned on the stills. “Most people go to Scotland and stay behind the velvet rope and taste and talk about the nuances of nutmeg and fruit taste. We got behind the ropes and learned how to make great Scotch whiskey,” Scott said.
For the next two years, the team traveled to Ireland, Cuba, and distilleries around the United States. They watched mash bills in practice. They handled different barley varieties and explored peat levels in Scotch that Scott admits he does not enjoy. The point was to understand nature, process, and time in a way that was earned.
The Biggest Small-Town Fourth of July
Scott’s sense of patriotism is the lens through which he grew up. “We are patriots in the sense of we love the idea of America,” he told me. “In school, we were taught patriotism, Minutemen, the history of the Revolution, the foundation of the Constitution, all the way through protecting those ideas today.”
That route led him into the military. It also impacts the way he thinks about Horse Soldier.
This year marks America’s 250th anniversary. Scott remembers the 200th as a kid. He remembers flags, parades, Jeeps, and the way every community pulled together. Those memories fuel the Liberty Edition release and a bold plan for a Fourth of July celebration at Horse Soldier Farms in Somerset, Kentucky.
Horse Soldier’s Liberty Edition bottle is only part of the 250th story. Scott and his team are also building what he calls “the biggest small town Fourth of July party in America.” That is not a metaphor.
For the last few years, they have been constructing a modern, large-scale production facility in Somerset. The grand opening is planned for July 4. Going build and bold is in the brand. Horse Soldier has partnered with professional bull riding. “This year we are going to have two days of professional bull riding out at Horse Soldier Farms,” Scott said.
Along with that, they plan a concert, fireworks, and some bourbons that have not yet been seen or tasted by the public. It is a full-throttle celebration in a lake town that draws about four million visitors a year.
Somerset sits near Lake Cumberland, where families come from all directions to spend weekends on the water. Scott sees it as the southern anchor of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
Scott knows that New York, Washington, and Philadelphia will all put on huge celebrations for the 250th, which he knows he can’t outdo. He’s trying to capture the feeling of small-town America where he grew up.
As for the Horse Soldier product line, the team has created a Liberty Edition bottle as a statement piece. “It is a beautiful, faded copper bottle,” he said. “It has the Statue of Liberty torch on top. It is a reflection of the idea that America is great for everybody who wants to take the opportunity.” They bottled a 13-year-old bourbon and produced only 1,776 of them, a nod to the original 13 colonies and the year of American independence.
The bottle is so striking, and the price point is high enough that many people want to display it instead of drink it. “Just drink it, Scott said. “And if you want to display it, put some iced tea in it. That way, if somebody is sneaking your very, very good bourbon, they will know that you know.”
FAQs About Horse Soldier and Scott Neil
How did you come up with the name Horse Soldier?
Scott and his team started without a brand or even a name. After years of learning to make whiskey, they had produced a few young barrels when the 2018 movie “12 Strong,” based on the book “Horse Soldiers” about the 9/11 Green Beret mission in Afghanistan, was released. Scott and the team brought their whiskey, poured it into plain bottles, printed a label using the Ground Zero Horse Soldier statue, and simply called it Horse Soldier Bourbon. That impromptu moment became the brand’s identity.
How involved are the founders in day-to-day whiskey decisions?
People often assume that once a brand grows, the founders step back. In Horse Soldier’s case, Scott and his partners stay close to barrel selection and production strategy. They work directly with distillers and warehouse teams, tasting through age stacks and shaping new releases. That hands-on approach keeps the brand tied to its original mission.
What makes Horse Soldier different from other whiskey brands?
Scott has strong opinions about celebrity spirits. He joked that people see a famous name on a bottle and assume it will sell. For him, authenticity means learning the craft from masters in Scotland and beyond, then putting in years of disciplined work. Horse Soldier’s story is rooted in service, sacrifice, and curiosity. That is a meaningful distinction for whiskey enthusiasts and newcomers.
Why put so much emphasis on symbolism in bottles and releases?
From the 1,776-bottle run of Liberty Edition to the 13-year age statement, Horse Soldier leans into symbolism. The glass they use is pressed in molds made from salvaged steel from the World Trade Center in 2001. Scott uses these details to connect the drink to American history and the ideals that motivated him to serve. For Scott and team, the bottle should tell a story before the cork is pulled. When the whiskey matches that story, the symbolism deepens the experience.
How Horse Soldier Breaks the Rules of American Whiskey
How does Horse Soldier’s Green Beret background show up in the whiskey? Scott thinks in missions, networks, and long-term objectives. The decision to travel the world, study distillation like a martial art, and build for a hundred-year legacy comes from that training. Attention to detail and respect for the team all shape Horse Soldier’s culture and its whiskey.
The Horse Soldier vision for America’s 250th birthday party, the Liberty Edition series, and the focus on a hundred-year legacy show how different American whiskey can look when driven by purpose and discipline.
For more details on an authentic and All-American whiskey, including special recipes, cigar pairings, and how to be living legendary, check out Horse Soldier Bourbon.
View the full podcast with Scott Neil at whiskeyshenanigans.com. And for more conversations with fascinating people in the whiskey world, check us out on Instagram @whiskeyshaniganspodcast