Foley Family's Minden Mill Releases Its First Three Whiskeys

December 9, 2024 –––––– Danny Brandon, , , ,

When entrepreneur Bill Foley purchased the mothballed Bently Heritage Distillery in Nevada last May, the news was received with great interest in the whiskey world. His California-based Foley Family Wines company was already a prominent player in the wine business, with 19 wineries in the U.S. and 8 others around the world, but this deal marked his first serious expansion into spirits. Since then, Foley has made a series of other whisky moves—including being named importer for Two Stacks Irish whiskey and Loch Lomond scotch, and the release of an impressive Texas whiskey. But things were quiet at the Nevada distillery, which was renamed Minden Mill shortly after the acquisition. Now that silence has broken, with the debut of the first Minden Mill whiskeys.

The defining feature of Minden Mill’s inaugural whiskeys is their mashbills, which were all made with estate-grown grains sourced from within five miles of the distillery and snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada mountains. The oldest release is a 6 year old American single malt, which showcases the estate’s terroir and is aged in oloroso, bourbon, and new American oak barrels. It’s joined by a 4 year old four-grain bourbon that spotlights Earth Tone corn—a dent corn heirloom varietal with multicolored kernels of bronze, pink, green, blue, and brown—alongside rye, malted barley, and oats. The final whiskey is a curious 4 year old rye whiskey with a mashbill that uses wheat as a flavoring grain in place of the usual corn. The bourbon and rye were both aged in a mix of new charred American and French oak barrels.

The focus on grains and terroir has been part of the distillery’s DNA since its inception. It was founded in 2019 by husband-and-wife team Christopher and Camille Bently, who were inspired to make whisky after visiting Scotland. The business plan was to focus on distilling single malt from grains grown on their nearby 2,500-acre ranch, while producing white spirits to keep food on the table until the whiskey reached maturity. Alas, things didn’t work out and the distillery closed down a few years later. When Foley swooped in to purchase the property and its facilities, the sale also included Bently’s whiskey stocks, some of which have now been bottled and released after some extra aging.

While this current release uses liquid distilled by Bently before the closure, Minden Mill has already started distilling these recipes on an ongoing basis to ensure there’s enough volume to sustain them going forward.

The long-term plan is for Minden Mill to carry on the Bently's mission of showcasing Nevada’s Carson Valley terroir through grain-to-glass single malts. To oversee that, Foley has hired Balcones founder and craft distilling star Chip Tate to lead innovation in the company’s spirits division. The distillery itself is headed up by master distiller Joe O’Sullivan, best known for his work on the renowned McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt brand during his time as master distiller at Clear Creek Distillery. He works alongside Tate. “Both Joe and I are veterans of the malt industry,” Tate told Whisky Advocate this summer, adding that he believes the team could turn Minden Mill into a regional hot spot for single malt.

The bourbon and rye each carry a suggested retail price of $45, while the American single malt goes for $60. All four are available in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Illinois, and online at the distillery website.