Horse Soldier Bourbon - Scott Neil

Scott Neil was a member of one of the special Green Beret units inserted behind enemy lines in Afghanistan shortly after the 9/11 attacks. He and a couple of friends created "Horse Soldier" bourbon to honor the legacy of the men who rode into battle on horse back against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
We all owe them, but very few of us know them.
They are the men and women of our military and
first responder communities, and these are their stories.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
American Warrior Radio is on the air. Well, ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to American Warrior Radio. This is your host, Ben
buler Garcia American Warrior Radio broadcast from the Sallencher Central Studios.
You're thinking of getting a silencer for one or more
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(00:40):
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owning a silencer is legal in your state. They can
then help you complete the paperwork and ship it right
to your front door, making silence simple. Since two thousand
and five. Silencercentral dot Com. Our guest today is fond
of saying no good story ever started over sound Today,

(01:01):
You're going to hear the story of a Special Forces
veteran who had a twenty five year career defending the
concepts of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and
then decided to embark on a journey to manifest those
concepts in his own life. You're actually going to hear
several stories today. We're going to talk about transitions, entrepreneurship,
and maybe throw in a few good war stories that
would never ever start over sell it. Our guest today

(01:22):
is a retired Green Beret with twenty five years of
service and the president of American Freedom Distillery, the home
of Horse Soldier Bourbon. Following the September eleventh attack, several
Special Forces teams were inserted behind enemy lines in Afghanistan
and were among the first Americans to engage in the
global War on Terror. They would come to be known
as the Horse Soldiers. Today's guest was a member of
one of those teams, although he admits he didn't spend

(01:44):
much time on horseback. His unit had a more focused
and highly specialized mission to penetrate even further behind enemy
lines and conduct operations targeting senior Al Qaeda and Taliban leadership.
He was featured in George W's George W. Bush's book
Profiles Encourage, and he's a leading advocate for veterans. Welcome
to American Warrior Radio, mister Scott Neil.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
Yay America. I usually like to throw that in there,
because sometimes America needsy to shout out.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Well, we definitely could yes, very often. What's two hundred
and fifty years? Yes, every year at least Scott, Why
did you join in? Why the Green Bereys?

Speaker 3 (02:22):
You know, I'm one of those kids when you look
back and you asked, you know, Johnny, Becky, Suzy, Tommy,
what do you want to do when you grow up?
And I'm the one that says I want to be
in the army. So I've known since I was a
little kid. And if you think back in the seventies,
there was only a few movies which could shape you right,
and a few books that could shape you. And it

(02:44):
was a g I Joe with kung fu grip, and
it was a little toy soldier with a plastic parachute.
So I knew from an early age. So as I
went through high school, I didn't see college kind of
as the outlet or what's now. I didn't even think
about the gi bill. I just wanted to go in

(03:05):
the army. So in eighty six I joined the Army
and they spent the first couple of years in the
seventh Infantry Division at Ford or California, and then I
finally had determined its time to do something bigger and
bolder and better, and I went through Special Forces selection
in ninety two.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, you'd been in a while when the nine to
eleven attacks happened. Obviously, then I had.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
I had already been part of fifth Special fourth tongue
tied fifth Special Forces Group, which is at Fort Camil, Kentucky.
I'd been in and out of the Middle East on
several different missions, whether it's foreign internal defense or uncommissional
warfare or security force assistance. And then actually when nine

(03:48):
to eleven happened, we were on a training exercise getting
ready to be deployed in the Middle East on one October,
so we actually thought nine to eleven was part of
the training scenario. We didn't know it was real until
later in the afternoon.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Oh wow, Yeah, that's that's that's pretty striking. I was
trying to do. Well, let's let's get into that because
I knew before we in the kind of the pre
interviewed notes, we're talking about something called the commanders in
Extremist Forces. Translate that into English force, because you know,
you talk about the horse Soldiers and the movie twelve strong,

(04:27):
and you know, folks, the public concepts seemed to be
focus on those two odas, but there were several, right,
there was what at least seven maybe, yes.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
So there's a term that each combatan command and if
you call in the military service for those that aren't
in the regional oriented. So Central Command typically is the
Middle East. And when you think about Middle East, think
about Muslim areas of influence all the way up from Bekistan,

(04:58):
it's Jikistan because k Stan flowing down through Afghanistan in
the Pakistan. Then in the heart of the Middle East,
from Saudi to Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, then going into the
African area, so Djibouti and hafa Kenya, all of that
is Central Command. And then you have Northern Command here

(05:21):
in America, you have European Command in Europe obviously, you
have Southern Command in the South American continent and in
Afrikaan all of those areas. A particular Green Beret group
focuses on that area. And the reason is is because
we are language and culture trained so that we can

(05:43):
integrate and be able to communicate and participate with those countries.
We're either supporting to prevent infiltration from terrorist organizations or
hospital regimes, or we're teaching the people how to resist
those hostile regimes. So throughout the nineties I had been

(06:07):
from you know, Kenya to Western Somalia, to Yemen to Kuwait,
you know, to Pakistan to Zbekistan, all of those countries.
Any one time in fifty five countries, there's a Green
Beret team there conducting operations. So now, now, what is

(06:30):
a commander's in extremist force. Commanders in extremist force is
a unit that typically is forward in the Middle East
in case there is a act of terrorism or something
significant that within hours, you have a small force that
is there for the commander to put eyes on the

(06:51):
problem or to work through the embassy if there's an
issue through the embassy. We're just more of a quick
reactionary force that then can shape information, intelligence and activities
for maybe a larger capacity of the US government. So
there's always a unit inside the Middle East that is

(07:15):
positioned for now.

Speaker 2 (07:17):
In this case, shortly after nine to eleven, So was
your group were you just tracking or were you actually
hunting and targeting these senior al Qaeda leaders after they
kind of dispersed, after they first figured out hey, we're
on to attack here.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
So if you think when and recall when nine to
eleven happened, you know, there's not too many in the
US government that really understood the network of al Qaeda
and the history of al Qaeda's origin. With Bin Lauden
and some of the other Musidines that have fought against
the Soviets within Afghanistan. Then they like vets, they kind

(07:58):
of dispersed. They had their own Ghidi VFW, and they
share their ideology. They began to broadcast, promote, fundraise, and
so when nine to eleven happens, fifth Group had already
worked in Afghanistan with the old different types of Musha
Dean that had resisted the Soviets, and oh, by the way,

(08:20):
they were now resisting the Taliban. So after the Soviets
left Afghanistan, they installed a communist government they were you know,
still seen as a Soviet influence, and then through popular uprising,
multiple bands of Afghans began to you know, attack that government,

(08:43):
but the ultimately the strongest one supported with al Qaeda,
overthrow the capital Kabul, which gave them control of you know,
some remnants of the military, but most importantly that old
Soviet armor and equipment that they left behind.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Okay, Scot, I'm back like talk a little more details
about that because you mentioned, you know, a small force.
We did have David Tyson on the show before. He
was a CIA linguist attached to one of those odios
in the American Greattwork. Was there when when Mike Span
became our first casualty in Afghanistan. So I'd like to

(09:18):
talk more if you don't mind about the makeup of
that team. We come back, ladies and gentlemen. This is
your host, Ben Biler Garcia. We're talking with Scott and Neil.
Scott's retired twenty five years in the Green Berets and
also the co founder of Horse Soldier Bourbon. You can
find out more was it horse Soldierbourbon dot com. Don't
forget you can find over six hundred podcasts at American

(09:38):
Warrior Rito dot com or whatever your favorite platform is,
if it's iHeart or Pandora or Spotify. We try and
get these messages out wherever we can stick around. We'll
be right back. Welcome back to American Warrior Radio. Lasion, gentlemen,

(10:13):
this is Ben Bueler Garcia. Very pleased to be talking
with Scott and Neil. Scott is a retired Green Beret
and the co founder of a company called Horse Soldier Bourbon.
You can probably find that in a store near you. Scott,
we're talking about your time in Afghanistan shortly after the
nine to eleven attacks. In your attached to us a
commander's in extremist force and so were you, well you

(10:36):
talk about a small team. Was it just Green Berets
or did you have CIA folks, what other kinds of
people were attached to your team specifically?

Speaker 3 (10:46):
So there was a few elements and then went back
to the big picture to get to the small picture.
If that's okay, sure, nine to eleven happens. America kind
of needs its response. The big Army and big marine
or Navy had a proposal, but by a time they
organized forces, re deployed forces in the area, then negotiated

(11:09):
through state departments some kind of forward basing. It would
take him till the springtime of two thousand and two,
and President Bush said, America cannot wait. We needed some
kind of response now. And if you recall the Doolittle
raids right after Pearl Harbor, it was this kind of
more public perception of counter strike than it was the effectiveness.

(11:34):
So once we understood al Qaeda and harbor by the Taliban,
which you know, once again not too many people in
the government understood it, we were certainly a little bit
ahead of most of the military and understanding this problem. Set.
I say that because Mark and Bob and five nine
to five had just returned from Uzbekistan, a six month

(11:57):
deployment where they worked with the uz Bey former special
operations units to counter IMU and some of the other
smaller terrorist organizations that were facilitating drugs in the Europe
or they were looking to acquire some of the old
Russian capabilities that course of America did not want them

(12:19):
to possess. So we already had this core sense of familiarity,
and so when nine to eleven happened, who could go
Green Berets immediately deployed forward because we had previous partnered
military relationships. Even before the State Department could arrange things,
we began to use assets and other capabilities through the

(12:40):
agency and our own human asset development. If you recall,
the Air Force started bombing early, and what they found
out is bombing what America had lost a lot of
its information, intelligence capabilities in Afghanistan, they didn't know or

(13:00):
have anything to go off of. And if you think
about a big bombing campaign, there was no hardened military
complex to strike. So the first couple missions before the
insertion was really to be close air support in case
a pilot went down. And then as we began to
develop more information, we began to develop our partners who

(13:23):
had worked with before the strategy shipped to unconventional warfare.
And that's basically since small teams of green berets facilitated
by our agency partners behind the lines, conduct an assessment
of their capabilities, request material support, and conduct training, and

(13:44):
then use those assets to discover the battlefield right where
is key and critical leadership, key critical infrastructure. I'm using
these military terms one because there's lots of books and
this is all declassified in certain aspects. We were there
to shape the battlefield in preparation of maybe the larger

(14:06):
invasion in the springtime of two thousand and two. Lo
and behold. Once you give green berets a mission and
you tell them to go behind the lines, nobody's coming
to get you, support, you rescue, You do the best
you can within under a week one five nine five.

(14:30):
That's Mark and Bob and of course they're part of
the company. Had organized a horse cavalry of about three
hundred and fifty riders while the Mark rode from town
to town, think eighteen miles a day in the saddle,
to sit down and discuss why American soldiers are here
and that their enemy is our enemy and we should

(14:51):
work together. They went from three hundred and fifty the
first week to the third week having a horse cavalry
of thirty five hundred r and a thousand infantry. And
it's hard to imagine with Hollywood and even in books,
you know, the last time anybody seen a cavalry of

(15:12):
thirty five hundred horses begin to maneuver in very rough
terrain to gain the tactical advantages of you know, military
hardware and low valley areas. And that was just one team.
And the reason a lot of the stories haven't come

(15:32):
out until now is because each team was only told
their mission. That way, if they were captured, you wouldn't
be able to divulge the bigger plan. Now where when
we were in isolation training for this exercise to be
in the Middle East, it was Mark and Bob's team
that was our facilitators. So think of kind of a

(15:54):
sister team, right once deployed, once getting ready to go,
so you facilitate. You know, some people go on leave,
You got kids, baseball games. Mark had just left the team.
And so that's where the friendship and kinship that remains
today in the business is because we were such good

(16:15):
friends and support and enablers, so much so that when
the war started, as they would push and gain battlefield
and the enemy leadership would try to reconsolidate and recommunicate
with each other, we would go further behind the lines
and kill and capture them. So you had total chaos

(16:37):
on the battlefield three hundred and sixty degrees.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
Interesting. I hope that more of those stories will come
out sometimes, Scott, because I think people, you know, you
start off the interviews, you know what's saying, Hey, you know,
yay America. I think it's these kinds of stories and
this I'm grateful every day there's people like you and

(17:01):
your comrades who are willing and able to go out
and do that and certainly was not my cup of tea,
which is why I do what I do, is, you know,
try and share these stories to to inspire and inform
other Americans.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
You know.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
It's also we got just about a minute for the
next break. Scott's a fellow entrepreneur. Impre you understand, I
got to pay for the show. But you know, there's
also some hearts and minds. I saw an interview you
did where you were talking about one mission where you
went into Kenya with with doctors and veterinarians.

Speaker 3 (17:26):
Yeah. Yeah, green braids, Yeah, green rays are very unique capability.
Everybody now sees Hollywood and what they deliver as an
idea of a special operator anything, Delta force, you know
Chuck Norris punch into face quick and quick out, which
is awesome. I've done those things. It was fun. Green

(17:47):
Beraids are more like mountain men. Where we are in
the rear of the area. We're in the mountains. We're
talked to people, we live with them, we eat what
they eat, We get to know their families. You know,
just think about even Vietnam, the Green Berets who invited
so many of the Motta yards back. We still have
relationships in the current communities in America. Same thing with

(18:08):
Afghans today. So I want the audience to know that
there's a difference in special operators because they conduct different
special operations.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
Scott, We've got an affiliate there in Tampa WGUL ninety
three point seven FM eight sixty am. Do you want
to give a shout out to your SOCOM brothers and sisters.

Speaker 3 (18:29):
First of all, I love Tampa Bay Area. This is
where I ended my career, and I think this is
where old warriors go to die by palm trees. So yes,
I love I love the Tampa Bay Area. I encourage
everybody to visit and then leave.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
Ladies and gentlemen. Ben Buler Garcia talking with retired Green
Beret and a co founder of for Soldier Bourbon Scott Neil.
We right back. Welcome back to American Warrior Radio. Lason, gentlemen,

(19:13):
this is Ben bueler Garcia. We're coming to you from
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(19:34):
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simple since two thousand and five Silencercentral dot com. We're
talking with Scott Neil, a twenty five year veteran of
the Special Forces and also the co founder while the
president of American Freedom Distillery, the home of horse soldier Bourbon. Scott,
real quick. I want to touch on something that comes

(19:54):
up all the time on our program, and that is
the challenges of transitioning. Now, you spent two years as
a director of strategic Development at the Green Beret Foundation,
one of my favorites. You develop something called the Next
Ridgeline program to help with transitioning. You announced it and
then promptly quit your job. Tell us a little more

(20:14):
about that.

Speaker 3 (20:16):
Very interesting, So think metaphorically, how are we going to
get ourselves from here to there? And if you're a
veteran leaving, you leave this kind of meshed network where
you have a rank and you're in charge of this
many and you know who's above you and beside you
and below you. And if you have a pay problem,
you go see somebody. And if you have a medical problem,

(20:38):
when you lease service, you're alone for the first time,
and so walking out the gates of a big castle,
they shut the door and you feel like you have
to go through this alone. And part of this is
the only thing you do when you're lost in the
woods is you look up. Whether you're religious, you look up,
you know, for guidance, or you're looking at the stars

(20:59):
and navigat, or you look at the next ridge line
because you can put your compass and map away if
you're going that direction. So the next ridge line was
kind of this putting together of heal yourself first, right,
get your mind straight. Next is reactivate your network, your
social network. You know, we're very good in the military
and we build these alumnis, but yet we don't have

(21:21):
them through the civilians. So you've got to be out
and participating in your community and in activities. And then
finally believe the American dream you were defending, because you
can pursue anything you want to. This is the only
country really with very little money you could be entrepreneurial.

(21:42):
Or if you've got a field you want to go into,
go get it. Don't wait to be abandoned and wait
for somebody to fly over with a helicopter and a
rope and dig you out of it. So I developed
this program and we went around the country just like
Afghanistan and talk to a thousand people who who were
successful unsuccessful, who were professional athletes that left, you know,

(22:07):
sports and didn't know what to do. And I raised
quite a bit of money, and on stage talking to
everybody about this program, I said, I quit, and I
quit because if I can't go through this program, you
deserve to have your money back. And that was exactly
ten years ago when that happened, as quite a shock

(22:28):
to my wife.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
I bet you've talked about or you've described green Berets
as expeditionary entrepreneurs. Do you think there's something about Special
Forces veterans that better prepares them for because entrepreneurship is
not for everyone. I think that, you know, one of
the most important things you can learn in life, beyond
what you want to do, is what you don't want

(22:52):
to do or what you shouldn't do. But do you
think that you know Special Forces folks have got up
a skill set that is more ritibly transferable to the
rough and tumble life of an entrepreneur.

Speaker 3 (23:04):
Yes, So as I get more senior and Special Forces.
I really understood that in the selection process it is
very calculated to find a personality type and trait and
as part of the Army's Human Behavioral Sciences lab, and
what do you look for? And it's the same with
an entrepreneur, somebody that can take little guidance, with little resources,

(23:26):
self motivation, work with a small team, not need all
the information to build a picture and work their way
through problems every day. So that's same characteristic that is
in the selection process that also green berets go through
in these missions where little is known. And when I

(23:47):
say expedition entrepreneur, a commander comes in and says, we've
got a problem. Here's a problem. We need you along
with your team to analyze this problem, pitch it and
just think of the commander as a capital venture investor.
You say, I could solve this problem with my team
with these resources. Will you invest in me? And he

(24:10):
says yes, So if you overlay that with what Also
as I was transitioning out, I had to learn the
language of business right, all these big terms ebit and
P and L, profit and loss and all these terms.
Thought I was so far behind, but now that I'd
learned the acronyms of business. I can communicate up, down, left,

(24:34):
and right so much so that you know, we have
built this business with little to no outside money into
something that's a global brand and tells our story every day.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
I mean, let's talk about that, because I certainly you know,
in talking to other successful veteran entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs in general, Scott,
you know, a couple of common themes come out, and
one is the capital. You know, is it? You know?
Am I going to take out a second mortgage on
the house? Am I? You know? Pestering friends and family
at Thanksgiving?

Speaker 3 (25:07):
You know?

Speaker 2 (25:07):
Am I? We just had a veteran on who did
an IPO and was on Nasdaq. What where did the
funds come from for your company?

Speaker 3 (25:18):
So initially I partnered with the green Berey who had
been out for about twenty years and had a successful business.
So he had already traveled this road and was had
chosen to be a mentor to me. He's Number one
is find a mentor that's gone through this area and
will give you advice, and usually that person has solved
the number one riddle, which is access to capital. So

(25:41):
we started with their own money. We went to friends
and family. This is the road. It's undeniable that this
is how people get steps of growing their business. Then
we went to what they call mezzanine level, and it
was a family office. From a family office, we had
a strategic partnership, you know, to the point now where

(26:04):
we are so far down in the sea of business.
We're with blue whales and orcas and large moving bottles,
bodies that will gobble us up if one bad move right,
And I love every day of it. Why because it
keeps my mind sharp, it keeps our networks good, and

(26:26):
if I out hustle myself, I.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
Will win outstanding. Well, I kind of got a little
ahead of myself there, because Scott, I want to I
want to encourage people. Like I said, entrepreneurship is not
for everyone, but it's it's an option I think for
And I've had a number of veterans who went into
you know, the the Navy seal who found a company
called zero wise. I don't know if you've heard of it,

(26:50):
but it's a specialized software that identifies people carrying weapons.
So that was, you know, really kind of not that
far of a late for him, given his expertise. You know,
I suppose Scott, being that you know, the fifth Vescil
Forces Group was headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. That rumor
has it there's a little bit of Bourbon, you know,
flowing around in that area. So I go, it's it's

(27:12):
kind of a natural transition. But what so when we
come back, so I'd like to talk about your company
in particular, because there's a lot of you know, folks
go to the website or Soldierbourbon dot com. There's there's
a lot of inspirational and action words that come up
that that speak, I would say, beyond the concept of

(27:34):
just a really darn good product. And I'm guessing that
was intentional, and I just I don't know. I I
know that every time out I'm out in the woods
with friends, I always think, Hey, you know, Ben, I
think I'm gonna start a seven million gallon distillery. I
mean that that pops up every time, Scott. I don't know.
So maybe maybe your story isn't that unusual, but I
like you to, you know, share it with us and

(27:56):
real quick. Uh well, yeah, let's let's go ahead and
go to a right here, because I wanted the name
of the bourbon. There's there's got to be an origin
story behind there, and there's just so many other elements.
In fact, in preparing for this show, Scott, I was
introduced to a phrase I had never heard before called
bar jewelry, and so I want you to share that
with our listeners as well, because there's just a there's

(28:18):
a very special and deep connection between the bottles that
your bourbon come in and nine to eleven. So when
we come back, I like to chat about that. Ladies
and gentlemen, don't forget you. Please please share these important
stories with your friends and neighbors. You can find us
on almost all the podcast platforms. Of course, you can
find over six center broadcasts at American Warrior Radio dot com.

(28:38):
And a special shout out to those of you overseas
listening to us on the American Forces Network. We're very
proud of your service and thank you for proudly we're
in the uniform. This is your host, Ben Deler Garcia
will be back with more Scott Nelands.

Speaker 3 (28:49):
Just a second.

Speaker 2 (29:10):
Welcome back to American Warrior Radio. Ladies and gentlemen, there's
your host, Bendler Garcia. We're very pleased to be joined
by Scott Neil Scott as a twenty five year Special
Forces veteran and also as the co founder of a
company called Horse Soldier Bourbon Scott before the break, I
was teasing about kind of the origin story of how
you and your comrade and I think his wife, you

(29:31):
were up in Idaho somewhere and you decided you want
to start a bourbon company. What is the origin story
behind the name though, horse Soldier Bourbon.

Speaker 3 (29:42):
Well, obviously, horse Soldier comes from the kind of moniker
of those early guys behind the lines, especially a couple
of Odas that initially were on horseback, because that's how
the Mugadine fighters were getting around the mountains, because the
tal band owned all the valleys because of the tanks,
artillery and modern weaponry, and so it kind of stuck

(30:06):
with Fifth Group guys. And then you have the monument
at ground Zero, which is called America's Response Monument, but
everybody just calls it the Horse Soldier Monument. So when
we said all right, everybody remembers the Blues Brothers, right,
a couple guys I think one was in jail. He
goes pick them up and says, you know what, we
ought to get the band back together. So fast forward

(30:28):
to twenty fifteen and sixteen. People were in different phases
of their life. Some had retired, some were working for
other government agencies, some were still working back in Afghanistan
and the command and we would get together and have
adventures think old Guy Red Bull. And one of those
adventures we went to Yellowstone and we spent a month

(30:51):
with our families in and out, learning the fly fish
and learning how to just get back to nature. And
we stopped to our first craft distillery that had free
tours and tastings, and that was that, and then the
next one, and then the next one. I called up
Mark and he had a buddy who was in the
SAS and Special Boat Squadron that opened a distillery in Scotland,

(31:13):
so we flew to Scotland. We had met some friends
that did a documentary on Irish distillery, so we went
to Ireland. So this was hobby esque, you know, guys
and families, you know, doing something together. And then finally
when the movie came out Twelve Strong, they invited us
to Hollywood to be part of the red carpet. And

(31:36):
we just put some in a bottle and stuck a
label on which was just called Horse Soldiers with the
image of the America's Response monument partied like it was
nineteen ninety nine. And about two weeks later, the owners
of ABC Liquor in Florida heard our story and said,
we'll take a case, and that is how our evil

(31:57):
bourbon empire began. That was ten years ago.

Speaker 2 (32:03):
Let's talk about the bottles there, because there's a special
story behind that. Every Horse Soldier bourbon is bottled and
glass pressed from a mold created with the steel from
the World Trade Center. So safe to say that every
drop of your bourbon has been touched by that tragedy.

Speaker 3 (32:24):
And then on the label, the lower rockers has forged
and fired, just like we were. How that came about us.
We wanted to find American made companies to include all
of our labels and supplies, and one of those companies,
Anchored Glass in Indiana, brought us to their factory. They
showed us everything, and in order to be identified in

(32:45):
the shelf, you could look like a generic bottle like
every other graft brand or everybody knows what a Jack
Daniels bottles looks like, or a mccountum bottle. They're very unique.
So we said, okay, how much is a bottle mold?
And they said sixty one thousand dollars for one, and
we needed seven of them, and we just didn't have
the money. And so like any good green Beret or

(33:08):
anybody else, it's like, what can we trade you? And
we found out the type of steel used in those molds,
And what most people don't realize is we buried pieces
of World Trade Center steel on the battlefield and set
back the coordinates right as that went up to President
Bush saying we are here, mission complete. And so we

(33:30):
had that relationship, and so this wasn't a marketing gig.
It was a necessity for a small merging business to
barter and negotiate, just like we had done in all
these countries we have been to when you trade, and
it just happened to be a cornerstone of our bottle.
So we have twelve hidden features inside the bottle that

(33:52):
people can still.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
Discover inside the form of the bottle, not stuff floating
around in the bourbon well.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
The hidden ingredient in the bottle is mother Nature and
father time. But really, if you look at the arrow
and hatchet and the label and the broad shoulders, it's
the wives that design the packaging because they had served
right along with us, and they are the ones that
just like their perfume jewelry basically a thousand dollars ounce
of something this is men's bar jewelry is to display

(34:22):
your favorite bottles outstanding.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
I like the idea and the time we got left
on just come back to that because also on an
interview did where you talked about how the journey is
not always so much about the destination, it's about what
you do along the way. And you also talk about how,
particularly when you're in the special Forces community, even though
you're out, you're never too far from the continuing problems

(34:47):
that comrades were still are experiencing. So along your entrepreneurship
journey these past ten years, what are words of caution
or encouragement you might share for others out there thinking
of embarking on this journey.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
Number one, if you want to join the military and serve,
please do your country. We're statistically right next to our
next big nine to eleven, so if you look in
between history and time, we're there. Number two is enjoy
your service, but then leave it right. Some people have
lingered and their whole identity was made What they did

(35:25):
in the past, not staping them what they do in
the future. And I tell people is I loved my service,
and I also love the day I retired. And this
is still America where you can build something from nothing,
or you can find something quiet and slow and focus

(35:46):
on yourself and your family. Right, this country needs veterans
to get in the economy and get into politics, and
get into small town leadership like our grandfather's from World
War Two that came home from very horrific can additions
after a very sudden attack and built the greatest economy
this world has ever known. They built the greatest sense

(36:06):
of diplomacy when the world was unstable. They did so
many great things. Are we going to take that baton?
And I challenge my veterans to say, love your service,
honor it so we can encourage the next generation. Serve
oh by the way, life, liberty, in the pursuit of happiness.

(36:27):
They're all available, and we have to believe that they're achievable.
And so I tell people, get up out of your foxhole,
right and charge destiny a little bit and go forth
and be a great human. That's all.

Speaker 2 (36:45):
Scott I had a thirty year veteran on about a
year ago, I guess, and he described his separation as
like his own personal phantom limb situation. If folks aren't
famliar with that. You know, people have an amputation. Sometimes
they still get an itch on the limb that's no
longer there. And it was heartbreaking, and you know clearly

(37:05):
he was. He was having a real struggle laying that down.
And you know, and particularly after thirty years of you know,
people telling you what to air, you know, what to wear,
when you're gonna eat, how much you're gonna paid, where
to go, what time, it can be a challenging transition.
What is the next plateau for Scott Neil and horse
Soldier Bourbon in your journey?

Speaker 3 (37:26):
You know, now it's about passing the baton. I have
a son that serves, so imagine this is the first
war where you give the war to your son. And
so he walked the same ground in Afghanistan I did.
But now that he's out and his wife is going
to college, he finishes college, he's in the business. I
just took my entire family and my grandkids say Yellowstone,

(37:49):
So let's start creating new habits in small families and
families that served. You know, how to raise the flag,
how the fold the flag. Let's go down to the
right on fourth of July. Let's get back to small
town America on your vacation. And you have remember when

(38:10):
you served as who you were, not who you are,
and America you can redefine who you are each and
every time. So you know, let's get to the future
and honor the past.

Speaker 2 (38:23):
Outstanding well, and start stories over a nice glass of bourbon,
not a salad.

Speaker 3 (38:30):
Yes, no, I've never poured it directly onto my salad.
But you know, bourbon to us was a celebration, a
little victory or a remembrance, right, you know, veteran alcoholism.
I understand it. We attack it all the time with
our friends, and these are little victories in every glass.

Speaker 2 (38:53):
Outstanding. Well, there you go, folks. You can learn more
visit Horse Soldier Bourbon dot com and check out the story.
D Scott Neils Rise and through. I think you call
this got your evil empire. So congratulations and best wishes
for much success going forward.

Speaker 3 (39:09):
Well you as well, my friend, and hopefully we'll get
to meet in person. We'll be able to share some
more stories.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
I look forward to it. There you go, Ladies and gentlemen,
or another show and can please share it with your
friends and neighbors and until next time, all policies and
procedures are a remaining place. Take care.

Speaker 3 (39:34):
You've been listening to American Warrior Radio.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
Archived episodes may be found at

Speaker 1 (39:40):
Americanwarriorradio dot com or your favorite podcast platform