Post Falls distillery debuts Special Forces Apple Brandy for veterans aid

Eighty percent of every bottle sold from Up North Distillery’s new Special Forces Apple Brandy will go to the Idaho State Veterans Home in Post Falls, turning a Kootenai County product launch into a direct fundraiser for veterans care.

The release debuted Saturday at Up North Distillery, 846 North Boulder Court, in a launch event scheduled from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Special Forces Association Chapter XLIII, based at 2600A E Seltice #387 in Post Falls, helped shape the project as a community effort to honor service members while sending money back to the local veterans home. Visitors were also able to stop in for complimentary samples during the launch weekend.

Up North Distillery said the apple brandy is made from freshly pressed Washington apples and copper pot distilled in the traditional method. The distillery also notes that American apple brandy dates back to the 1600s, giving the release a traditional backbone that fits the brand’s aim of pairing heritage with a civic purpose. In this case, the bottle is doing more than filling a tasting room shelf. It is carrying a built-in donation stream tied to a facility in the same city where it is being sold.

The Idaho State Veterans Home in Post Falls is a 64-bed skilled nursing facility dedicated on Nov. 11, 2022. That makes it one of the region’s most visible veterans institutions, and one with a clear local footprint for donors who want their spending to stay close to home. A June 2025 local report said the home had been recognized for scoring in the top 15% of skilled nursing homes nationwide over the course of a year, underscoring the significance of where those bottle proceeds are headed.

Randy Mann, the owner of Up North Distillery, described the release as deeply meaningful. The scale of the pledge gives that sentiment a concrete edge: 80% of bottle proceeds are earmarked for the Post Falls veterans home, not a vague charitable pool. The launch also fits a broader Idaho network of military-support work that includes Mission43, which focuses on education, employment and community engagement opportunities for active military, veterans and military spouses in Idaho. In Post Falls, the result is a brandy release with a clear beneficiary, a defined percentage, and a local care facility set to see the payoff.