By Christopher Harris

At The Urban Stillhouse , it ' s all about the bourbon — and if it ' s about anything else , it ' s the hospitality .

" We kind of like to think of it as a sort of place where you want to put on your Sunday best and go out and say hi to your friends in the community and have a nice meal and get treated like somebody special , because you are ," said general manager Christopher Stephens .

" Everybody who comes in here , as far as I ' m concerned , is special ."

The Urban Stillhouse is located on Somerset ' s beautiful Fountain Square , in the historic building that is known to many as the former home of Goldenberg Furniture . However , it ' s closely connected with the Horse Soldier Bourbon brand , which is currently building its distillery home in southern Pulaski County , and with the original Urban Stillhouse restaurant located in St . Petersburg , Florida .

Opening the Doors

The story of the founders of Horse Soldier Bourbon is already the stuff of legend in Pulaski County . Horse Soldier Bourbon was founded by a band of brothers who retired from the military , traveled the world and discovered a passion for making bourbon . Their story began in the weeks

following 9 / 11 , when a small group of U . S . Army Special Forces entered Afghanistan on horseback . Their clandestine mission marked the first time U . S . troops rode to war on horseback since World War II . The handselected detachment of 12 Green Berets from the 5th Special Forces Group

would later become known as the “ Horse Soldiers ," and the 2018 action war drama film 12 Strong is based on their story .

Once out of the service , those same men decided to team up once again and get into the bourbon business , creating American Freedom

Distillery and the Horse Soldier Bourbon brand while in St . Petersburg , located in mid-eastern Florida near Tampa . It was there that the idea of a restaurant tailored to the product was born as well .

" They decided to start the business in St . Pete because all the special forces guys flew in and

Photo by Christopher Harris

out of MacDill Air Force Base , so there ' s always been a really good retired veterans community down there ," said Stephens .

The Florida Urban Stillhouse opened in August of 2020 , and was an instant success .

" It was one of those ' right place at the right

time and the right product ' ( scenarios )," said Stephens , noting that people were eager to get out and socialize again after having quarantined because of Covid-19 . " They knocked it out of the park . It ' s easily one of the biggest restaurants that St . Pete has ever had in it ."

However , the Horse Soldiers had a meaningful Kentucky connection — members of the group were even conducting training on the Cumberland River when the 9 / 11 attacks happened — and so " pretty early on , they always knew that they wanted to be a Kentucky distillery ," said Stephens .

Meanwhile , Somerset Mayor Alan Keck knew from the start of his time in office that he wanted a distillery in this community , to help connect it to the bourbonbased tourism lifeblood present throughout much of central Kentucky . When Keck learned about Horse Soldier Bourbon , he began to court the team behind it , and " they kind of hit it off really well ," said Stephens .

Ground broke on Horse Soldier Farms , at the former Waitsboro Hills Golf Course , in October 21 , but as the community awaits the arrival of the distillery , like a good military unit sending out a scout team , the Horse Soldier team decided they would bring The Urban Stillhouse to Somerset