Minden Mill Rye Review [In Depth]
Minden Mill Rye
by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
Founder, writer
Minden Mill Rye Details
Distillery: Minden Mill
Type & Region: Rye whiskey, Nevada, USA
Alcohol: 47%
Composition: 80% rye, 10% wheat, 10% malted barley
Aged: At least 4 years
Color: 1.4/2.0 on the color scale (tawny)
Price: $45-50
From the company website:
A spicier, warmer whiskey with hints of candied fruits. This rye is crafted with 80% rye, 10% wheat, and 10% barley. This ratio was designed to highlight the candied orange peel reflective of the Carson Valley terroir. Aged four years in new charred American and French oak. ABV 47%. Non-chill filtered.
Minden Mill Rye overview
Minden Mill, the relatively new distillery founded in 2019 and re-established in 2023, made a bold decision to create a wheated rye whiskey. It’s just not a thing that distilleries usually do, and I can only think of one or two other rye whiskeys like this. I have no idea why it’s not more utilized, but +1 for uniqueness.
At least as of when I’m writing this review in late 2024, you’ve most likely never heard of Minden Mill Distilling. Long story short (long version here at Reno News and Review) is that the distillery as we sort of know it today was founded in 2019 and called Bently Heritage. Operations were severely impacted because of the Pandemic, and the distillery struggled to stay open and operate.
It was eventually sold to Foley Family Wine and Spirits, and was re-opened in 2023 as Minden Mill Distilling. The name makes sense because it’s located in Minden, Nevada. There’s also a mill on-site and they focus on using grains they grow themselves or source from within a few miles away, so Minden Mill makes sense to me.
Here’s an interesting fact for all of Minden Mill’s whiskeys, “All the whiskeys are aged in climate controlled rickhouses tied to specific weather stations in whiskey regions that inspired the distiller: the Speyside region of Scotland for the American single malt and Nelson County, KY for the bourbon and rye.”
This means that the rickhouses aging the bourbon and rye should have more heat and humidity in the summer and cold temperatures in the winter, with a lot of fluctuations year round as temperatures can change by 30+ degrees fahrenheit. It’s an odd decision because Minden has its own unique climate that they are removing from the aging process, which is a major factor in creating a whiskey. I’m not sure why they chose not to embrace Nevada fully. Maybe it will pay off.
Let’s taste if the wheat in the mashbill and not leaning into the Nevada climate does anything unique and special in this Minden Mill Rye review.
This bottle was provided to me at no cost. All opinions are still my own.
As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
Minden Mill Rye smell
I smell darker honey, dried grapefruit, licorice, dried cherry, toasted oak, anise, cinnamon, and a little pineapple and mint. Minden Mill Rye smells great with fairly developed sweetness, herbalness, and fruitiness. The darker grapefruit and cherry fruitiness is really nice, but the scents are also surprisingly not that expressive.
In my experience, rye is a very vibrant and expressive grain, and those fruity and herbal notes often leap out of the glass. That is not the case here. Minden Mill Rye is fragrant for sure, but it doesn’t have that expressive leap out of the glass. Instead, it’s more dark and round, and…maybe subdued is the word.
After swirling and rest, I get honey, cherry, licorice, grapefruit peel, anise, toasted oak, cinnamon, vanilla, preserved lemons, and a hint of grain and mint. Minden Mill Rye continues to have a nice range of sweet, herbal, fruity, and oaky notes.
It feels fairly mature and developed, but again the rye vibrance and pop oddly aren’t there. It’s fragrant and dark, but more subdued than I’d like.
Minden Mill Rye taste and aftertaste
There’s dark honey, dried cherry and licorice, grapefruit peel, toasted oak, anise, cinnamon, vanilla, caramel nougat, mint, and some earthiness and woodiness in the back. Mmmm this is tasty. Minden Mill Rye has a really nice and full herbal sweetness, rounded fruitiness, and complementary woodiness.
Unlike the bourbon, which felt clearly light on body, this is less of an issue here. Don’t get me wrong, the flavors aren’t rushing out of the glass yet and hammering away at my tastebuds with flavor, but this already has good range and fullness that I can immediately pick out.
After “chewing”, I taste honey, preserved lemon, cherry, anise, toasted oak, creamy and lightly savory lemon and vanilla custard, cinnamon, and a little caramel nougat and earthy caraway seed.
“Chewing” opens up the flavors, bringing out some more sweetness and fruitiness. It’s great – a developed, balanced, and interesting rye that I definitely enjoy. I’m not even going to pretend that I can clearly pick out wheat-specific traits such as stronger citrus, cinnamon, and clove. I honestly don’t, I wouldn’t be surprised if it melds well with all that rye.
At the same time, the vibrant pop is still missing to my liking, which is really odd for a rye whiskey, especially one that’s 80% rye.
The finish leaves toasted honey and licorice, grapefruit peel with some lightly bitter white parts, toasted oak, anise, and clove with lingering toasted oak, clove, and mint that leave a refreshing sensation. After “chewing”, the aftertaste has honey, lemony vanilla cream, licorice, clove, toasted oak, and cinnamon with lingering anise, pineapple, vanilla, and mint. It’s a really pleasant and refreshing finish.
But just like Minden Mill Bourbon, there’s some missing pop and viscosity. A little more vibrance and pop would have pushed this into “Top Shelf”.
I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too.
Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.
Minden Mill Rye Rating
Minden Mill Rye whiskey is a winner and I’m so glad that they kept the price under control. To be honest, the wheated part isn’t obvious to me because I’m not really sure what I’m smelling / tasting for, but all of it put together feels mostly developed, varied, and interesting.
The layers, richness, and pop aren’t all there yet, so there’s still work to be done, but I’m really excited to taste a cask strength and / or older version that expands on what it already has. That’s going to be amazing.
This is not the first time I’ve written this about Minden Mill, but their inaugural releases are all very good. I don’t know how they did it, but I’m really impressed that they got it right so quickly.
If you’re looking for your next good rye for not a ton of money, then this is one to strongly consider. Rye whiskey this good from an upstart distillery is worth supporting.
Meet the Author: Alex
I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.
There are no sponsors, no media companies, and no nonsense. Support The Whiskey Shelf by Buying Me A Shot.
Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)
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