DESTIN, Fla. (September 24, 2018) – American Freedom Distillery is owned & operated by a group of veterans whose story is so riveting, a blockbuster hit movie, 12 Strong, was inspired by it. As an immediate response to the 9/11 attacks on our country, these U.S. Army soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan, where they completed some of the first missions in the War on Terror in the desert on horseback.
Today, these heroes run their distillery in Tampa, and Horse Soldier Bourbon is quickly becoming one of America’s most beloved small-batch bourbons taking over the market with the tagline: “Legendary Men, Legendary Spirits.”
“American Freedom started on the back of horse in Yellowstone a little over 3 years ago. We visited several craft distilleries and spent time understanding what was needed to start our own craft distillery. We trained in Scotland, Ireland, and Kentucky.” –Scott Neil, U.S. Army Retired Master Sergeant, Co-Founder American Freedom Distillery
On November 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, Scott and his comrades Mark Nutsch, Bob Pennington, and John KoKo will be visiting Northwest Florida for Destin Crafted, the area’s inaugural craft beer & bourbon festival for charity. The festival will be hosted at The Henderson Beach Resort, and benefit Children in Crisis.
Fest goers with VIP access will have the opportunity to meet and talk with these whiskey-crafting war heroes, and sample one of their rarest batches of bourbon at the VIP party on Friday November 2nd at 5 pm. Horse Soldier (single barrel) will be available to sample at the main event on Saturday, November 3rd . Those interested in attending the festival or VIP party can purchase tickets at any Wine World store, online at destincrafted.com, or on Facebook @ChansWineWorld.
“We support our troops and our military, not to mention we love craft spirits, so I was naturally thrilled when I heard about Horse Soldier Bourbon. I was even more thrilled when I tasted it! We are very excited to get to meet these American heroes and learn even more about their product.” –Chan Cox, Destin Crafted Founder, Wine World Owner & Founder
As a kick-off to the weekend festivities, on Thursday November 1st Wine World will host a bottle-signing and cocktail event at The Craft Bar in Destin. Guests of honor Mark Nutsch, Bob Pennington, John KoKo, and Scott Neil will be signing bottles and mingling with guests on Thursday afternoon and specialty cocktails will be featured into the evening.
VIP tickets for Destin Crafted are $100 and include admission to all events. Tickets for Saturday only are $50. All proceeds will be donated to Children in Crisis, Inc, a local 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. More information about the event is available online at destincrafted.com.
Wine World is a locally owned full-service retailer of fine wine, spirits and beer in Northwest Florida, hosting numerous events throughout the Panhandle every year. Learn more at www.chanswineworld.com
#DestinCrafted, presented by Wine World and hosted at The Henderson Resort pool deck, will feature over 50 craft beers and small-batch bourbons alongside local foods. Live music entertainment will be performed by Boukou Groove, and guests will have the opportunity to enter a raffle to win a “to-be-announced” prize. Learn more at destincrafted.com.