Brian’s Horse Soldier Signature Small Batch Review:
reviewed 18-September-2023
HORSE SOLDIER SIGNATURE SMALL BATCH BOURBON REVIEW:
Horse Soldier Signature Small Batch (Horse Soldier Signature) greets with an aroma of faint ethanol, herbal, roasted corn, and faint wheat. There is a dark fruit leather snack which passes through to the palate in the flavors of currants, dark stone fruit, and soft prunes sprinkled with cinnamon, powder ginger, and a couple dashes of black pepper.
Then come vanilla and dark pecan toffee. And again, like I sensed on the nose, I taste the effects of dry seasoned oak, hazy and smoky sweet char along with traces of musty leather. The balance in fruits, sweets, spice, and wood are sound and the finish is long, throat warming and reminiscent of the aromas and flavors.
HORSE SOLDIER SIGNATURE SMALL BATCH VITAL STATS:
Category: Sourced, Small Batch Wheated Bourbon
Region: St. Petersburg, FL
Distillery*: American Freedom Distillery
*Distilled by and stored in Ohio at Middle West Spirits
Mash Bill: 70% corn (yellow dent), 20% wheat (soft red winter), 10% malted barley
Barrel Char: unpublished
Barrel entry proof: unpublished
Age: nas
ABV: 47.5% (95 Proof)
NABCA CSC #: 26576
Fair Price: $88.10 (BoozApp, September 2023)
Price: $69.95 (Idaho, Summer 2023)
HORSE SOLDIER SIGNATURE BOURBON BACKSTORY
Immediately following [the 9/11] attacks on our nation, the USA responded with a daring insertion of small teams of Green Berets into northern Afghanistan. The Northern Alliance successfully overthrew Mazar-i-Sharif, a Taliban stronghold, with the support of these brave men. This region’s inhospitable, mountainous terrain made efforts and enemy engagements on wild Afghan horses a necessity for one Special Operations team (ODA595). Nicknamed the “Horse Soldiers”, all these brave men are honored today by America’s Response Monument overlooking “Ground Zero” in New York City. [In addition,] our bottles … are molded with World Trade Center steel.
*Website notes include the following statement:
“Due to federal alcohol regulations we must leverage a third party partner for fulfilment.”
Partner Distillery: Middle West Spirits in Columbus, OH
ENJOYMENT METHOD FOR THE REVIEW:
By alternating the pours, I added about four ounces into a Glencairn and a Weck. My daughter and I enjoyed the bourbon neat while I prepared this review, drinking from the Glencairn.
HORSE SOLDIER SIGNATURE SMALL BATCH NOSE:
In Horse Soldier Signature’s warming aroma of faint ethanol, I sense herbal, roasted corn, and faint wheat. Deeper draws pick out dark berry nectar, a trace of cherry, currant, and prune mixed with allspice, ginger, and white pepper, pressed into a dark fruit leather snack. Delights of yeasty wheat bread, and light vanilla infused orange sponge cake are here as well. These treats and baked goods compete for attention with brown sugar, slightly burnt caramel, and nutty pecan toffee. As I continue to breath in, dry, seasoned oak and hazy char add musty and earthy depth.
HORSE SOLDIER SIGNATURE SMALL BATCH PALATE:
The first sip of Horse Soldier Signature offeres a warm mild bite. Like on the nose I taste roasted corn and with careful consideration, wheat. In the next sips I find currants, dark stone fruit, and soft prunes sprinkled with cinnamon, powder ginger, and a couple dashes of black pepper. Then come light vanilla and sweet brown sugar, dark caramel, dark pecan toffee. And again, like I sensed on the nose, I taste the effects of dry seasoned oak, hazy and smoky sweet char along with traces of musty leather.
Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
Horse Soldier Signature is a well blended and balanced bourbon in its fruits, sweets, spice, and wood. In my mouth I get a mild tongue tickle and each sip becomes quite oily the longer it is held. In the glass, a thin inverted crown with small clinging droplets hangs above the tawny-colored pool while thin, fast draining legs transport the liquid left after a sip, back to the bowl.
HORSE SOLDIER SIGNATURE SMALL BATCH FINISH
Horse Soldier Small Batch gives a long throat warming, wheaty, soft and mellow finish. As I swallow, I sense barrel tannins, the sweetness of corn and the memory of dark prunes. On the back of the palate and in my throat, I feel cinnamon, ginger, and pepper along with dark vanilla, deep brown sugar caramel and dark toffee dipped in milk chocolate. As the sweets fade, dry seasoned oak, and hazy, smoky sweet char drift in. And when the last sip is taken, the empty Glencairn smells of fresh cut oak planks and the inside of an empty Whoppers box.
MY RATING: 90/100
Will I buy this whiskey again? YES
Click to read Brian’s scoring process.
Click 90/100 to access other whiskies with this score.
To access other reviews from this brand, click American Freedom Distillery.
REVIEW BACKSTORY:
During the summer of 2023, our local whiskey club held a two month long blind taste-off where 24 of us each donated a bottle by pouring samples into 1 oz Boston Rounds. The prepared samples were dispersed and over 24 days we attempted to identify what we were drinking.
On Day 7 of the competition, Horse Soldier Signature Small Batch came up. Until then, I had not had it before and as I sipped, I got close on the proof but couldn’t tell it was a wheater. I didn’t care for the sample. The group’s concensus was similar. Of course none of us knew what it was until after the big reveal.
My opinion changed while preparing this review and I don’t know what altered my opinion … Maybe it was because I knew what it was, maybe the bigger review portion in the glass made the difference, or maybe it was because I just came off a week of Elijah Craig Barrel Proofs and other offerings from Heaven Hill as I participated in the 30 Bourbons in 30 Days Challenge.
Whatever the cause … like it and I think our readers might too. Go get a bottle and see for yourself (and maybe another for the bunker).
WHISKEY TRAITS, FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:
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