Meet Minden Mill, a Budding American Whiskey Producer on the Forefront of the Estate Distilling Wave

Minden Mill Distilling

With its gorgeous views, skiable slopes and bustling casinos, Lake Tahoe is a tourist hotbed that draws visitors galore, particularly during the winter months. The next time you find yourself taking a trip to Big Blue, whether you’re going to lounge by the water or shred the gnar, you’ll find it worth your while to travel 20 miles east of South Lake Tahoe.

There you’ll find Minden, Nevada, a sleepy little town with a distillery that’s one of America’s best-kept secrets. Even your resident whiskey enthusiast is unlikely to be familiar with Minden Mill just yet. The distillery — which is inside a historic flour mill and creamery — opened in 2019 under the name Bently Heritage Estate Distillery. Bently lasted three years before closing. Until May 2023, that is, when Foley Family Wines & Spirits swooped in and acquired the distillery.

A year and a half later, Foley announced the rebranded Minden Mill to the world, entering the market with a 4-year-old bourbon, a 4-year-old rye and a 5-year-old American single malt whiskey.

What Is Estate Distilling?

Minden Mill prides itself on its status as an estate distiller. “Estate” is a term that’s big in the wine world but hasn’t quite caught on when it comes to spirits. An estate wine is one that was produced exclusively using grapes grown on-site.

In the same vein, estate distilling is all about doing everything in one place. According to the Estate Whiskey Alliance, an “Estate Whiskey Certified” product must have been milled, cooked, fermented, distilled, barreled, aged and bottled on the estate distillery, and at least two-thirds of all grains in the mashbill must have been grown on estate-owned or -controlled land.

The Estate Whiskey Alliance was unveiled to the public in September by entities including the University of Kentucky, Maker’s Mark and Heaven Hill (Elijah Craig, Larceny). To this point, the alliance counts 15 total members, including Minden Mill, which mentioned Brown-Forman (Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester) and Campari (Wild Turkey) as other massive companies positioning to get in on the estate distilling movement.

“If Heaven Hill didn’t think that it was going to be an amazing thing, they wouldn’t be investing nearly the amount of money,” Foley Family Wine & Spirits ambassador and Minden native Lucas Huff said.

Minden Mill Master Distiller Joseph O’Sullivan compares the Estate movement in whiskey to one of the industry’s most popular trends over the past several years: American single malt.

The U.S. whiskey-scape is dominated by bourbon, followed by rye. Outside of the U.S., however, from Scotland to Japan, single malt is king, and while America was late to the party, the category is rapidly entrenching itself in American whiskey culture. Just last month, in fact, the category received its long-awaited ratification from the TTB.

100% of the grains Minden Mill distills are sourced from its farmland on Bently Ranch in Minden.

The ASM movement began the same way almost all spirits innovations do: with the little guys. Smaller, indie producers aren’t afraid to experiment, get creative and try new things. Then, once there’s a proof of concept, the industry giants step in and join the trend. That’s what happened with American single malt, and O’Sullivan says the industry giants are hopping on the estate train much faster than they did with single malt.

“Brown-Forman, the big names in [the American Single Malt Commission] were slower to get on board with that than they are with estate,” O’Sullivan said. “They were never part of the commission. What they are part of is this movement toward estate distilling, so that financial investment should show you how valuable this is going to be in the future.”

Minden Mill makes its bourbon from very cool-looking Earth tones dent corn.

Minden Mill exceeds the two-thirds grain threshold enforced by the Estate Whiskey Alliance; 100% of the grains it distills are sourced from its farmland on Bently Ranch in Minden. Minden Mill even malts a portion of its own barley, which is rare.

Beyond the estate growing and malting of the grains, Minden Mill believes strongly in its terroir — another word from the wine world that some whiskey distilleries are attempting to harness.

Positioned at the foot of the Sierra Nevadas, Minden’s climate is dry, high desert terroir, which Huff says means they don’t have to use any pesticides or mildewcides that would be necessary for crops in warmer, more friendly agricultural environments.

One of Minden Mill’s climate-controlled barrelhouses.

Minden Mill’s distinctiveness doesn’t end with its grains. After distillation, the spirit is filled into barrels that rest in some of the highest-tech barrelhouses you’ll see. These climate-controlled rickhouses are tied to specific weather stations in whiskey regions that inspired the Minden Mill team and are designed to mimic the climates of Nelson County, Kentucky, and Speyside, Scotland. The bourbon and rye whiskeys mature in the Kentucky warehouse, while Minden fills the Scotland warehouse with its single malt barrels.

Minden Mill’s Portfolio: Diving Into the Whiskeys

Each of Minden Mill’s debut expressions is bottled at 94 proof. You can buy them all online here. The bourbon and rye are each priced at $44.99, whil ethe American single malt costs $59.99. Let’s break down the portfolio.

Minden Mill American Single Malt Whiskey

Read Our Review

American single malt is all the rage right now, but it’s actually been around on some level for quite a while. The first known American single malt was released in 1996. Aged in sherry barrels, it was crafted by Steve McCarthy, founder of the Oregon-based Clear Creek Distillery.

Clear Creek is also where O’Sullivan got his start, training under McCarthy. Until August 2023, that is, when he joined Minden Mill.

The room and stills that convinced Master Distiller Joseph O’Sullivan to take the Minden Mill job. (Photo: Maggie Kimbrel/American Whiskey Magazine)

Minden Mill distills its single malt whiskey using a pair of regal 2,300-gallon stills crafted by Forsyths Ltd in Scotland. It is these stills and the room they sit in, which O’Sullivan describes as “the chapel of Single Malt,” where the master distiller was convinced to take the job at Minden Mill.

Acquiring these grand stills wasn’t easy for Minden Mill, it turns out. Some time after the distillery had ordered them and was awaiting their arrival, word came that The Macallan had placed a massive order for 31 new stills from Forsyths, which meant the distillation equipment maker wouldn’t be able to get Minden Mill its two stills for three years.

Desperate to speed up that timeline, Minden Mill flew a representative from Forsyths out to the distillery in the hopes that showing the still maker what they were building would convince it to prioritize Minden Mill over The Macallan. Apparently, it worked. Three weeks after the trip, Minden Mill received notification that the stills were en route.

Some time after Minden Mill received the stills and got them installed, a distiller noticed a bit of faded text on one of the stills: “Macallan No. 9.”

“Macallan No. 9.”

“We are the only distillery in the United States to ever jump the line on Macallan,” O’Sullivan says.

Minden Mill’s American single malt is distilled from 100% estate-grown barley and aged five years in a mix of ex-bourbon, American oak and oloroso sherry casks. The finished product is a rich malt that nicely balances a spice-laden profile with dark fruits.

Minden Mill Rye Whiskey

Read Our Review

Minden Mill’s terroir is a particularly large factor in the growth of rye, a crop that’s very susceptible to mildew and other molds.

O’Sullivan even claims you can taste the lack of mold in Minden Mill’s rye whiskey after distillation:

“When you bring in fancier distillers than any of us — the big names in the industry who are super familiar with the faults that can come in through grain — they will taste our rye whiskey and not be able to pick up any of the mold or ergot-y qualities that come in almost anybody else’s rye, corn, wheat, barley.”

Distilled from a mashbill of 80% rye, 10% wheat and 10% barley, Minden Mill rye is aged four years in new charred American and French Oak. The rye is tasty and beautifully couples soft sweetness with delicate spice notes.

Minden Mill Bourbon

Read Our Review

Minden Mill’s flagship bourbon mashbill will be 60% corn, 20% rye, 10% wheat and 10% malted barley. The initial batch includes 10% oats in the mashbill, an unusual practice in bourbon

Huff says they started using oats in the bourbon because they add a “unique viscosity” and creaminess — plus, they grow on the farm, so sourcing them isn’t an issue. However, Minden Mill has decided to abandon oats going forward due to “how big of a pain it is to distill with oats.”

Batch 1 of the bourbon is light and fluffy in flavor, with notes of banana walnut muffin, vanilla cake, cherry and cinnamon.

All in all, Minden Mill is one of the most exciting unheralded distilleries in America thanks to its estate-driven approach, terroir and inventive aging technique. The future is bright for this brand, and it’s poised to put Nevada whiskey on the map alongside the impressive Frey Ranch.