Nevada Distilling Company

In a downtown Las Vegas warehouse where summer heat swings barrels through years of aging in months, Nevada Distilling Company turns sourced Indiana whiskey into some of the desert Southwest's most decorated bourbon and rye. Bottled under the Smoke Wagon name, the lineup has picked up Double Gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in four separate years, evidence that non-distiller producing, done with a real point of view on blending and climate, can compete with anyone.

History & Heritage

Nevada Distilling Company, also doing business as Nevada H&C Distilling Co., was founded in Las Vegas in 2012 by Aaron Chepenik and Jonathan Hensleigh. The founders built the company around a simple bet: rather than distill from scratch, source excellent whiskey from an established producer and let the Nevada desert do work that most distilleries spend years trying to replicate with barrel management alone. In September 2024, Advanced Spirits, a sister company of Barrel Hub, LLC and led by Rob Arnold, Ph.D., acquired Nevada Distilling Co. in a multimillion-dollar deal. As of July 2026, Nevada Distilling Company is owned by Advanced Spirits, with production and blending still based at the company's Las Vegas facility at 418 W Mesquite Ave.

The Whiskey

Every Smoke Wagon expression starts as new-make whiskey from MGP Ingredients in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. The house high-rye bourbon mash bill runs roughly 60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% malted barley, while the rye expressions blend two distinct MGP mash bills, one at 51% rye, 45% corn, and 4% malted barley, and a second at 51% rye and 49% malted barley. The whiskey travels to Las Vegas young and finishes its aging and blending there, which is where Nevada Distilling's real signature shows up. Barrels rest on the top two floors of the warehouse, where summer heat drives aggressive cycling in and out of the wood, and the desert's low humidity pulls more water than alcohol out of each barrel, concentrating both proof and flavor over time. The team never rotates barrels during aging, a deliberate choice to avoid the harsh tannin notes that can come from moving barrels through a rickhouse. Most releases, including Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered Bourbon and Smoke Wagon Straight Bourbon, are bottled non-chill filtered to preserve the fats and oils that shape mouthfeel. Smoke Wagon Straight Bourbon is a high-rye bourbon aged approximately four to five years and bottled at 92.5 proof. Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered Bourbon is a cask-strength blend of multiple vintages bottled with no water added. Smoke Wagon Blenders Select Rye combines the two MGP rye mash bills at cask strength, typically landing near 117.8 proof. Smoke Wagon Triple Sevens Rare and Limited Straight Whiskey blends three distinct seven-year-old mash bills, two bourbon and one rye, bottled at 108 proof. The distillery also produces Silver Dollar Vodka, made by purchasing grain neutral spirits from MGP and redistilling them in copper pots at the Las Vegas facility.

Why It Matters

Smoke Wagon has built a genuine competition record rather than relying on the novelty of a desert address. Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered Bourbon won Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in both 2017 and 2020. Smoke Wagon Straight Bourbon won Double Gold at the same competition in 2020 and 2021, followed by Gold in 2022, plus a Gold medal at the 2022 Ascot Awards. That consistency across releases and years points to a blending program that treats the desert climate as a genuine production tool rather than a marketing hook. The Reserve Whiskey Library carries four Smoke Wagon expressions, giving those who appreciate good whiskey a chance to compare a cask-strength rye, a standard straight bourbon, an uncut bourbon, and a rare limited blend side by side.