Visitors gather at the grand opening of Minden Mill Distilling on Sept. 9.
Hannah Pence/Tahoe Daily Tribune
Minden Mill Distilling conducted its first public event under new owners Foley Family Wines on Sept. 9.
Foley named Joseph O’Sullivan as master distiller in early August.
Under O’Sullivan’s leadership, the distillery will produce its own new brands of bourbon, rye, American single malt, and white spirits from locally sourced, sustainable grains.
The spirits distilled at the site will be available through national wholesale markets and at the facility’s tasting room.
The Minden Mill has been a centerpoint in the town since just after it was founded in 1906 to serve as a railhead for the Virginia & Truckee in Carson Valley.
The railroad ceased operations to Minden in 1950, but the mill continued operations into the late 1960s.
The entire site was purchased by Minden industrialist Don Bently in 1975 and housed the offices of Bently Nevada Corp. until the end of the 20th Century.
In 1978, the property was named to the National Register of Historic Places by Donald and Michael Keagy, who’d intended to purchase it and convert it into a restaurant. The sale fell through, but the Mill remains a historic landmark.
After Bently’s death in 2012, his son Christopher restored both the Minden Farmers Bank, the mill and the former Minden Butter Co.
Just as the Keagy’s originally planned, the four silos on the Mill’s west side were combined into a single cloverleaf.
The distillery opened for the first time on Feb. 9, 2019, after four years work that the state estimated cost around $100 million.
The distillery closed to the public last year and was put up for sale in March 2022, along with much of the Bently Family property.
In May Las Vegas Golden Knights pro hocky team owner Bill Foley’s company purchased the distillery
For more information, visit foleyfamilywines.com
