American Freedom Distillery

Dedicating Their Lives to Service

The story of the American Freedom Distillery is the story of true American Heros, and of American entrepreneurialism. Founders Mark Nooch and Bob Pennington are ex-Special Forces veterans, whose brotherhood was forged during the first days after the 9/11 attacks, as part of a daring insertion of small teams of Green Berets into northern Afghanistan. 

Northern Afghanistan’s inhospitable, mountainous terrain made efforts and enemy engagements on wild Afghan horses a necessity for Special Ops team ODA595. These national heroes, nicknamed the “Horse Soldiers”, are noted both in the annals of recent military history and a recent movie for being among the first on the ground in Afghanistan post-9/11.

After leaving their service to our country, Mark & Bob decided their next mission was to create Horse Soldier Bourbon, a spirit that captures Special Ops team ODA595's aspirational legacy of family values, adventurous spirit and pride, in every bottle.

Today American Freedom Distillery is known to whiskey drinkers for their Horse Soldier Bourbon, so named for the mode of transport they used to get around Afghanistan, and for making damn good spirits.