Final Flight Reserve: The Bourbon That Salutes the Last Jump Jet
There is a tradition in military aviation known as a sundown ceremony — a carefully choreographed farewell in which a storied aircraft makes its final approach, touches down one last time, and is officially retired from service. On June 3, 2026, that ritual played out over the tarmac at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock, North Carolina, as the last operational U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II flew into history. The ceremony included a five-ship formation flyover, with the Harriers landing in front of the assembled crowd — four single-seaters and a twin-seat TAV-8B — greeted by the celebratory water cannon salute. For the men and women who had spent careers in the Harrier community, it was a send-off that matched the magnitude of the moment.
Now, a limited-edition bourbon has been released to honor that milestone — and it sold out fast enough to underscore just how deeply the Harrier's legacy resonates beyond the flight line. North Carolina-based nonprofit Allies for Cherry Point's Tomorrow (ACT) launched Final Flight Reserve, a limited-edition bourbon commemorating the retirement of the U.S. Marine Corps' AV-8B II Harrier fleet. The bottle isn't just a collector's item for aviation fans. It's a convergence of military heritage, bourbon craftsmanship, and community purpose — a rare release that actually earns the word "meaningful."
The Story Behind the Bottle
A Three-Way Partnership Built Around Purpose
The release is the result of a partnership between ACT, Bespoken Spirits in Lexington, Kentucky, and Give 270, a nonprofit based in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Each organization brings a distinct piece to the project. ACT, the nonprofit driving the release, was founded to advocate for MCAS Cherry Point and its irreplaceable role in both national security and the regional economy of eastern North Carolina. Proceeds from both bottle sales and the silent auction will benefit ACT and its mission to support MCAS Cherry Point's role in national defense and regional prosperity through advocacy, partnership and community engagement.
Bespoken Spirits, meanwhile, is no ordinary distillery. The Kentucky Distillers' Association welcomed Bespoken Spirits in Lexington as a member of the nonprofit trade group that unites and leads Kentucky's signature bourbon and distilled spirits industry. Founded by Stuart Aaron and Martin Janousek, Bespoken began production at its California headquarters in 2019 before making a significant commitment to the Bluegrass State. The company announced plans to relocate its headquarters and manufacturing operations to Greyline Station in Lexington, a $3.2 million relocation that created 16 new high-wage jobs. The distillery's approach to whiskey finishing is anything but conventional. Bespoken Spirits is a wood maturation innovator, leveraging over eight years of intense research and development to sustainably customize aroma and flavor, with the proof lying in 300-plus awards in spirits competitions, over 25 of which are at or above Double Gold.
That wood-finishing expertise is precisely what shaped Final Flight Reserve's profile. Finished with toasted oak staves and bottled at 108 proof, the carefully selected bourbon is limited to just 1,500 bottles. The toasted oak finish — as opposed to the more aggressive char typical of standard bourbon aging — tends to contribute softer vanilla and caramel notes while preserving the spirit's underlying grain character. At 108 proof, it carries genuine backbone, the kind of presence that rewards a splash of water or a few minutes of patience in the glass. The expression delivers a bold yet balanced profile, crafted to be powerful, refined, and as unmistakable as the Harrier itself.
Numbered Bottles That Tell the Harrier Story
What elevates Final Flight Reserve above a typical commemorative release is the intentional storytelling built into each individual bottle. Give 270 is hosting a silent auction for select numbered bottles, each telling part of the Harrier story by honoring historic squadrons, milestones and the legacy of the aircraft. This approach transforms the bottle from a passive keepsake into an artifact with specific historical weight — each number tied to a chapter of a 55-year saga spanning the Gulf War, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and the Red Sea. For the collector who picks up bottle 223, for instance, the connection to Marine Attack Squadron 223, the very last unit to fly the jet, is unmistakable.
Final Flight Reserve is available at MCCS Cherry Point and at select area bars and restaurants, with bottles also purchasable online through Bespoken Spirits at bespokenspirits.com. The concentrated availability — initially anchored around Havelock and the Cherry Point community — was deliberate. This isn't a bourbon that chased national retail shelf space. It was designed to live first in the community that lived alongside the Harrier for decades.
The Aircraft Behind the Legend
Fifty-Five Years of Vertical Innovation
To understand why the Harrier's retirement warranted a commemorative bourbon at all, you have to understand what the aircraft actually was — and what it demanded from the men who flew it.
The Harrier can be traced back to the British Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational V/STOL aircraft, whose Hawker P.1127 prototype first hovered in untethered flight around 1960. The AV-8B Harrier II, an Anglo-American redesign led by McDonnell Douglas with British Aerospace, made its first flight on November 5, 1981, before entering service in January 1985. The U.S. Marine Corps had actually been flying the earlier AV-8A variant long before that. The USMC took delivery of the first AV-8A Harrier jump jet in 1971, making it the first force to field the aircraft.
What made the Harrier extraordinary — and extraordinarily demanding — was its propulsion system. A Marine aircraft for 55 years, Harriers use a single turbofan engine with four rotating nozzles from which the thrust can allow it to hover and take off or land vertically. That allowed the jets to operate from places without runways or from the decks of Navy ships, staying closer to combat operations compared to fighter jets that required air bases or airports with full runways. For the Marine Corps' expeditionary warfighting doctrine — always oriented toward operating from the sea and pushing combat power ashore fast — this was not a nice-to-have capability. It was foundational.
The AV-8B Night Attack variant introduced advanced sensors for round-the-clock operations, while the AV-8B Harrier II Plus incorporated the AN/APG-65 radar, providing improved targeting and air-to-air capabilities. These weren't minor upgrades — they kept the platform competitive deep into the 21st century, long past the point when conventional wisdom might have written it off. An estimated 337 airframes were built before production ended in 2003. The Harrier fleet, which peaked at roughly 280 jets, had fallen to 87 aircraft by 2025.
A Combat Record Built Over Decades
The Harrier didn't just participate in America's wars — it often shaped them at the tactical level in ways that larger, more glamorous aircraft couldn't replicate. Able to fly from amphibious assault ships and austere sites without a runway, the type undertook more than 3,300 sorties in the 1991 Gulf War, when General Norman Schwarzkopf counted it among the conflict's most important weapons. It later saw combat over Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The Harrier's final operational deployment came in the Caribbean, where it flew ahead of the January 2026 capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Its combat utility was not just a product of its VTOL capability but of the community that mastered flying it. For many Marines, the Harrier's retirement represents more than the loss of an aircraft type. The platform developed a dedicated community of pilots and maintainers who mastered one of the most demanding aircraft in military service, whose unique flight characteristics required specialized training and expertise that distinguished Harrier operators throughout the years.
In its final years, the Harrier demonstrated a remarkable adaptability that few expected. In January 2024 during the Red Sea crisis, one of the Harriers was modified for air defense; its pilot Captain Earl Ehrhart is reported to have intercepted seven Houthi attack drones. That a decades-old airframe was being pressed into service in an entirely new mission set — drone interception — in its twilight months says everything about the ingenuity of the Marines who kept it flying.
The Final Ceremony at Cherry Point
The retirement events were proportional to the aircraft's legacy. According to information published by the 2nd MAW, the celebrations for the end of the Harrier era began on Monday, June 1, and ran through Thursday, June 4, bookended by an evening social in downtown New Bern and a golf tournament at the Sound of Freedom Golf Course in Havelock. The sundown ceremony itself drew a crowd befitting the moment. More than 5,000 people gathered to watch the last U.S. unit fly the aircraft.
The last operational unit, Marine Attack Squadron 223 (VMA-223), returned from its final deployment on May 20, 2026, after a cruise with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima in the U.S. Southern Command area. The commanding officer of that unit put it plainly at the ceremony. "As a platform that has continuously forward deployed across the globe, the Harrier will be remembered for its distinguished combat legacy, legendary Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing (V/STOL) capability, and the Marines and sailors that made the community special," said Lt. Col. John B. Cumbie, commanding officer of Marine Attack Squadron 223.
"It's the most successful attack aircraft in Marine Corps history," said one officer at an earlier farewell ceremony, a sentiment shared widely among the men who flew and maintained it. The Harrier's departure was not without some bittersweet irony: Cherry Point was the first location that received the AV-8B — with the first production aircraft arriving there in January 1984 — and ultimately the last to dismiss it.
What Comes Next: The F-35B Inheritance
The AV-8B's expeditionary short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) mission is being absorbed by the F-35B Lightning II, the Marine Corps' fifth-generation variant of the Joint Strike Fighter. The F-35B retains the STOVL capability that made the Harrier so valuable to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. It can operate from amphibious assault ships and austere expeditionary bases, preserving the Corps' ability to deploy fixed-wing strike without relying solely on large-deck carriers. The transition wasn't always smooth. The USMC's Harrier II fleet was planned to remain in service until 2030, but by 2014 the USMC had decided to retire the AV-8B sooner because changing the transition orders of Harrier II and Hornet fleets to the Lightning II would save US $1 billion.
The U.S. Marine Corps is consolidating on the Lockheed Martin F-35B and expects to field 205 F-35B and 56 F-35C jets by the end of 2026, within a program of record of 420 aircraft. The Harrier will live on in some form, however. Days before the retirement ceremony, Spain confirmed that it would take five of the retired U.S. aircraft to keep its own Harrier fleet flying. With the U.S. Marine Corps having retired the type and the Italian Navy planning to run about half a dozen jets from the carrier Cavour for another two to three years, Spain is set to become the world's last Harrier operator by 2028 or 2029.
Back home, the aircraft will be preserved in museums across the country. Efforts are underway to preserve the AV-8B's legacy in aviation museums across the country. One example already in place: a particular Harrier logged 995 combat flight hours and a total of 8,955 service hours, operating with squadrons VMA-223, VMA-231, and VMA-542, with its service history including key deployments with Marine Expeditionary Units as well as participation in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, in addition to humanitarian missions. That airframe, and others like it, will anchor exhibits where future generations can reckon with what the jump jet actually meant.
The Bourbon and the Mission: Where Whiskey Meets Service
A Growing Tradition of Military Commemorative Releases
Final Flight Reserve does not exist in a vacuum. The release adds to a growing number of limited-edition spirits tied to military and commemorative themes. Bourbon brands and independent bottlers have increasingly partnered with veterans' organizations and military-adjacent nonprofits in recent years, producing special releases that serve dual purposes as collectible items and fundraising vehicles. The intersection makes sense — bourbon has always been a drink associated with American identity, shared sacrifice, and the marking of significant occasions. A bottle that connects the Kentucky distilling tradition to a half-century of Marine Corps aviation history isn't a stretch. It's a natural fit.
The Harrier's relationship with bourbon has even deeper, more unusual roots. Back in 2020, a retired Navy admiral and a retired Marine lieutenant colonel hatched a scheme to age bourbon at speed — literally. Retired Navy Rear Adm. Scott Sanders, who with partners owns a distillery, and retired Marine Lt. Col. Art Nalls, who owns a restored Sea Harrier jet, planned to take barrels of bourbon on a flight as part of the aging process. The plan was to put barrels in the drop tanks and go 700 miles an hour to see how the pressure affects the taste of the bourbon in the oak. The shared heritage of the Harrier and American whiskey culture runs deeper than most might expect.
The Will Lewis Statement and What It Means
When Havelock Mayor and ACT President Will Lewis spoke about Final Flight Reserve, the weight of the moment came through clearly. "For 55 years, the AV-8B Harrier II has represented innovation, readiness and the unwavering dedication of the Marines who served alongside it," Lewis said. "Final Flight Reserve is a tribute to that legacy and an opportunity to commemorate the end of an extraordinary era in military aviation." Lewis speaks not just as a civic official but as someone whose community has grown up in the shadow of Cherry Point — a base that has been an economic anchor and a point of civic pride for eastern North Carolina for generations. The bourbon is, in that sense, as much a local statement as it is a national one.
Collectibility and the 1,500-Bottle Ceiling
Scarcity always drives interest in limited bourbon releases, but scarcity with a compelling story behind it drives something more durable. At 1,500 total bottles, Final Flight Reserve operates in a tier of rarity that makes secondary-market interest essentially inevitable. But the intent here isn't to create a flip commodity — it's to put bottles in the hands of people who actually care about what they represent. The silent auction component managed by Give 270, in which numbered bottles tied to specific squadrons and milestones go to the highest bidder, is a smart mechanism for matching the most historically significant bottles with the buyers most likely to honor them properly.
For serious bourbon collectors with military backgrounds or interests, a bottle numbered to correspond with VMA-223 — the squadron that flew the Harrier's final missions — carries a weight that no amount of age statement or mashbill description can replicate. It is provenance made tangible. And at 108 proof with a toasted oak finish, it's also genuinely drinkable by any standard, not a bottled dust-collector.
Bespoken Spirits: The Technology Behind the Tribute
The choice of Bespoken Spirits as the production partner for Final Flight Reserve was not incidental. The distillery's entire identity is built around precision finishing — the idea that wood interaction doesn't have to be a passive, years-long process, but can be actively shaped and controlled. "Rather than putting spirit into a barrel and waiting passively for nature to take its course, we instill the barrel into the spirit, actively and precisely controlling the process to deliver premium quality tailored spirits full of nuance and flavor," said Scott Savage, vice president of research, development and production at Bespoken Spirits.
Bespoken's approach allows it to unlock new recipes at record speed, harnessing exotic woods from every corner of the globe — Japanese Mizunara, Brazilian Amburana, and French Limousin oak — achieving complexity in a fraction of the time. For Final Flight Reserve, the choice of toasted oak staves rather than more exotic or aggressive wood treatments was deliberate. The profile had to honor the bourbon tradition while being distinctive enough to stand apart as a commemorative expression. Derek Jeter, the Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop from the New York Yankees, and T.J. Rodgers, renowned Silicon Valley scientist and entrepreneur, joined Bespoken early on as investors, supporting the distillery's passion for innovation with a strong focus on sustainability. That combination of sports celebrity, Silicon Valley capital, and Kentucky bourbon heritage is unusual, but it reflects the kind of boundary-crossing approach the distillery brings to every project it takes on.
Cherry Point, Havelock, and the Community That Grew Up Around the Harrier
MCAS Cherry Point is not just a military installation. It is the economic and cultural spine of Craven County and much of eastern North Carolina. For decades, the rhythms of the base — the roar of jets on training approaches, the deployment cycles, the homecomings — have shaped everything from real estate values to school enrollment to the identity of Havelock itself. The Harrier, more than any other aircraft, defined the sonic and visual landscape of that community for most of its modern history.
ACT was founded precisely to preserve and strengthen that relationship — to advocate for the base's continued relevance in the face of the kind of defense budget pressures and BRAC reviews that have shuttered installations across the country. A bourbon release tied to the Harrier's retirement is, from ACT's perspective, both a tribute and a fundraiser for an ongoing mission. The proceeds go directly back to work that keeps Cherry Point positioned as a critical node in national defense planning.
The selection of Give 270 as the auction and nonprofit partner brings a specifically Kentucky dimension to a very North Carolina story — a reminder that the bourbon industry and the military community occupy overlapping circles of American life, sharing values of craftsmanship, discipline, and respect for tradition. Give 270's involvement in managing the numbered bottle auction ensures that the storytelling dimension of the release — each bottle honoring a specific squadron, milestone, or aspect of Harrier history — is handled with the same seriousness that the aviation history itself demands.
The Broader Significance: When an Aircraft Becomes a Symbol
Most military aircraft come and go without generating much sentiment beyond their operational communities. The Harrier is different. Its visual profile — stubby, workmanlike, bristling with purpose — never had the sleek glamour of an F-14 or F-22. But it did something no other American combat aircraft could do, and it did it for 55 years under the most demanding conditions military aviation produces. For the public, the iconic "jump jet" was also an attraction at airshows, hovering in front of the crowd like a helicopter can, and saluting at the end of the demonstration with the 'Harrier Bow.' That airshow presence meant generations of American kids grew up watching a jet do things jets aren't supposed to be able to do. That creates a specific, durable kind of popular attachment.
The retirement of the Harrier coincides with a broader transformation of Marine Corps aviation — one that will take years to fully play out as F-35Bs become the standard and the institutional knowledge embedded in the Harrier community disperses and is retrained. The personnel and MOSs currently serving the Harrier program across the Marine Corps fleet are being retrained and reassigned to other platforms and duties by the time of the program's sundown. Human expertise, unlike aircraft, doesn't go to a boneyard. But it does evolve, and the distinctive culture of the Harrier community — its acceptance of mechanical complexity, its comfort with low-altitude, close air support work, its expeditionary instincts — will have to find new expression in the cockpits of fifth-generation stealth fighters.
Final Flight Reserve, at its core, is a vessel for that transition — a way of saying that what the Harrier represented is worth mourning and celebrating simultaneously. Poured neat at 108 proof with the toasted oak character working quietly in the background, it's a bourbon that earns its story. And in a market crowded with releases that lean on packaging and marketing more than substance, that's a distinction worth raising a glass to.
