Heritage Distilling Co. Welcomes Newest Non-Profit Partners in “Special Operations Salute” Whiskey Program

New Partnerships with The Honor Foundation and HunterSeven Foundation Expand Network of Charities

GIG HARBOR, Wash., March 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Heritage Distilling Company, Inc. ("HDC" or "Heritage"), a leading craft distiller of innovative premium brands, today announced its partnerships with The Honor Foundation and the HunterSeven Foundation, marking a significant expansion of HDC’s Special Operations Salute ("SOS") whiskey program to provide increased support to military and first responder communities.

Created in November 2023, HDC has focused on creating a new whiskey series dedicated to specifically supporting active duty and retired military members, first responders and their families who serve in the Special Operations and First Responder communities by allocating a portion of sales to select non-profit organizations dedicated to helping this large community.

Since the program’s inception in November 2023, over $60,000 has been raised for partner charities through the sale of nearly 6,000 bottles. At 105 proof, the “Howitzer Strength” whiskey, priced at $125, allocates a portion of proceeds from each sale to nonprofit organizations.

What started as a limited fundraising bottling run initiated through a collaboration with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord eight years ago has now evolved into a nationwide initiative. The new SOS series will feature several editions, each dedicated to Special Operations units within a branch of service and first responders, including Army SOF, Naval Special Warfare, Air Force Special Operations and more. The entire series is available at www.heritagedistilling.com.

“For nearly a decade, Heritage Distilling has demonstrated unwavering support for our military heroes and their families. Through our 1st Special Forces whiskey edition, we've raised nearly $150,000 for Special Forces-related charities local to Joint Base Lewis-McChord,” said Drew Kellerman, Heritage Distilling co-founder and former Airborne and Ranger-qualified Army Infantry officer. “With the expansion of our mission through Special Operations Salute, we pay homage to the operators on the ground, past servicemen and women, and their families, who have made immense sacrifices for the freedoms we cherish.”

“The HunterSeven Foundation is both honored and humbled to work with Heritage Distilling Company to better serve America’s heroes as we work to assist veterans facing critical health issues resulting from post-9/11 exposure to chemicals. Their unique approach to partnering with non-profit organizations through the sale of this super-premium whiskey is an easy way for us to connect with our supporters and patrons as our team of veterans and medical providers forge ahead treating our heroes,” said Chelsey Simoni, Executive Director of the HunterSeven Foundation. “Patrons who buy this product will be directly supporting our efforts.”

“The generous support we receive from the Special Operations Salute Whiskey by Heritage Distilling Co. extends far beyond financial assistance to the Honor Foundation. It represents a commitment to support our efforts to help SOF veterans transition from military life to civilian careers,” said Matt Stevens, CEO of The Honor Foundation.

The current release of the Army SOF edition is a masterful blend of two 6-year-old bourbons and a 7-year rye whiskey, all meticulously crafted in-house by HDC. Future editions will feature their own unique mash bills, ensuring a diverse and compelling offering for whiskey enthusiasts.

HDC's CEO, Justin Stiefel, said, “Through the success and learnings of nearly a decade of our initial partnership supporting the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), we have demonstrated our credibility in this area. We know we have the ability to do more, and because of that, we now have the responsibility to do more. We are expanding this effort to support these brave men and women who take on the toughest tasks and sacrifice the most for freedom-loving people everywhere. We are humbled by the trust these new partners at The Honor Foundation and the HunterSeven Foundation have placed in us as we try to do more for our nation’s heroes.”

HDC is also collaborating with the Green Beret Foundation, Special Forces Association Chapter 16, The Foundation for Exceptional Warriors (The FEW), Idaho BackCountry Veterans, Camp Benesi, and the Marine Raider Foundation for a future special release. Non-profit organizations interested in raising funds for their own organizations through the program can complete an intake form on the Special Operations Salute webpage.

Each premium bottle of the Army SOF edition comes enclosed in custom tubes and features a newly commissioned lithograph drawing by the world-renowned artist and veteran, Michael Solovey, whose powerful imagery resonates deeply with the military community.

For more information and to purchase the Special Operations Salute Whiskeys and Heritage’s other award-winning spirits, visit heritagedistilling.com.

About Heritage Distilling Company, Inc.
Heritage Distilling Company, Inc.®, currently a subsidiary of Heritage Distilling Holding Company, Inc., was co-founded in 2011 by Justin and Jennifer Stiefel and U.S. Army Veterans Drew and Sara Kellerman. Heritage is among the premier independent craft spirits distilleries in the United States offering a variety of whiskeys, vodkas, gins and rums produced mainly from local, sustainably sourced ingredients. Heritage is the most awarded craft distillery in North America by the American Distilling Institute for the past ten years out of more than 2,600 craft distilleries. To accelerate its national wholesale distribution growth strategy, Heritage founded the Tribal Beverage Network (TBN) to collaborate with Native American tribes and develop Heritage-branded distilleries, brands, and tasting rooms and to develop brands unique to the tribes, to serve patrons of tribal casinos and entertainment venues, creating compelling social and economic benefits for participating tribal communities while allowing the tribes another channel through which to exercise tribal sovereignty. Alongside the Special Operations Salute series, HDC's remarkable lineup of premium whiskies, gins, vodkas, rums, and ready-to-drink cocktails includes acclaimed spirits such as Stiefel’s Select, Florescence (a collaboration with celebrity chef Danielle Kartes), Cocoa Bomb Chocolate Whiskey, Elk Rider®, BATCH NO. 12^®, and the HDC series featuring more than 20 naturally flavored vodkas, among others.

About The Honor Foundation
The Honor Foundation (THF) is a career transition institute for U.S. Special Operations Forces that effectively translates their elite military service to the private sector and helps create the next generation of corporate and community leaders. It achieves this through a three-month program which provides tailored executive education, one-on-one coaching, and access to a nationwide professional network. This program was built by the desire to serve others with honor for life, so that their next mission is always clear and continues to impact the world. Every step is dedicated to preparing these outstanding men and women to continue to realize their maximum potential during and after their service career. The Honor Foundation has 2,550+ graduates to date and has campuses in San Diego, CA; Virginia Beach, VA; Camp Lejeune, NC; Fort Liberty, NC; Eglin, FL; Tampa, FL; JBLM, WA; Fort Campbell, TN and two virtual programs (THFv). The Navy SEAL Foundation is a Founding Partner of The Honor Foundation.

About the HunterSeven Foundation.
The HunterSeven Foundation is a veteran-founded, federally-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that specializes in medical research and education specifically on the post-9/11 veteran cohort. The HunterSeven Foundation has quickly become the leaders in identifying potential toxic exposures and subsequent illnesses in military veterans and in turn is able to educate both the veteran population and the healthcare providers who care for them on critical health information relating to their exposures utilizing evidence-based practice. This proactive approach to addressing potential health concerns is a secondary prevention (“to detect a disease early and prevent it from worsening to chronic or terminal“) tactic and crucial in assuring overall health, wellness and life longevity. What makes the HunterSeven Foundation a distinctively, unique organization is that the all-volunteer team supports the community in which it comes from. Eighty-percent of our staff are post-9/11 military veterans, and seventy-five percent are advanced practice, medically-licensed healthcare providers. HunterSeven Foundation is also the only non-profit organization in the realm of toxic exposures to publish their medical research internationally making them published experts in the field.

Contacts:

Investors
Scott Eckstein
heritage@ksca.com
(212) 896 1210

Media
Anne Donohoe
heritage@kcsa.com
(732) 620 0033

Released March 5, 2024