I’ll take it neat.

If you’re not a bourbon whiskey drinker and need a good (actually, excellent) reason to give it a try, you might want to try Horse Soldier. But before you do, let me first stress it’s not your ordinary spirit—-and that’s because it’s not your ordinary story. (Hollywood re-told it in the 2018 movie “12 Strong.”)

Days after 9/11, the USA responded with a daring insertion of small teams of Green Berets, mounted on horseback, into Northern Afghanistan. These brave men are honored today by America’s Response Monument at Ground Zero in New York City.

Nicknamed the “Horse Soldiers”, these same men now make the award-winning Horse Soldier Bourbon, emblazoned with the image of this statue. Authentically made with all-American ingredients, the Horse Soldier glass bottle is even molded by steel recovered from the World Trade Center to commemorate the lives lost and never forgotten.

Having had the distinct honor of meeting some of the original Horse Soldiers—and sampling their new-to-Texas premium bourbon—at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas recently, I can tell you two things. The drink is an instant classic. The story is timeless.

Cover photo Adam Zoblotsky

Adam Zoblotsky is Publisher at Foodscene Magazine and Creative Director at Restaurant Pixel, a Texas-based design and photography agency.