As Weldon Mills Distillery started racking up national awards in 2021 for its whiskey, co-owner Bruce Tyler told his business partner Michael Hinderliter they needed to talk.
Just a year earlier, the distillery in the northeastern North Carolina town of Weldon produced its first bourbon, Soldier’s Cut, originating from the Roanoke River. The venture stemmed from a favorite pastime of the owners: drinking booze and smoking cigars together. The business grew rapidly along with the awards from organizations such as the International Whisky Competition, the
San Diego Wine and Spirits Challenge and the Craft Distillers Spirits Competition.
“We opened this distillery to be a small little operation so we’d basically have a bigger liquor collection than our friends,’’ Tyler recalls. “But once we started winning awards, we realized we had something different here.’’
Backed by investments topping $2 million, twice what Tyler had envisioned, the venture generates more than $4 million in annual revenue. Sales come from the company’s stores in Weldon and Durham, online and through most of the state’s ABC stores. Revenue is roughly doubling year after year, and the owners hope to hit $10 million annually within a few years. The operation employs 35 people.
The distillery can produce 30,000 gallons of small-batch bourbon and 50,000 gallons of other spirits annually. Next year, bourbon capacity will climb to 160,000 gallons a year, Tyler says. In the next three years, the company plans to add a mass production facility capable of producing 3 million gallons of bourbon yearly.
Weldon Mills Distillery has made a name for itself in North Carolina’s grain-to-glass movement as one of several dozen distilleries producing small batches of varied spirits. An online guide from VisitNC, the state’s tourism promotion agency, lists the distillery along with nine other craft liquor makers in the first Southern state to enact Prohibition in 1920.
“While national Prohibition ended in 1933, North Carolina remained a dry state until 1935, the heyday of hooch, eventually giving birth to the firewater-fueled sport of NASCAR,’’ VisitNC says. “While moonshine once lost its luster with cheaper and more accessible liquor, it truly never died. New micro-distilleries are opening every year here, crafting small-batch gin, rum, whiskey, vodka — and, of course, moonshine. And this time, it’s legal.’’
Clap of Thunder Rum, Rey Coyote Tequila and Royal Rhubarb Gin are among Weldon Mills Distillery’s three dozen products, which mostly retail for $25 to $65. Another is Rockfish Gin, named after the striped bass that spawn in the rapids of the Roanoke River, where Tyler led the transformation of two vacant buildings. They include a circa-1892 grist mill and a 1950s garment sewing factory.
The distillery is located in the former sewing plant, while the restoration of the brick-and-timbers mill created the bar and space for weddings and other events. A tour bus shuttles people between the buildings, while several acres of riverfront property offer overnight accommodations for RV campers. 
A majority of visitors to Weldon Mills Distillery are from outside of North Carolina, partly due to the town’s proximity to Interstate 95 midway between Miami and New York City, according to Tyler. That is why he and Hinderliter, who has interests in commercial real estate, are investing in Halifax County projects other than the distillery.
Five miles away in Roanoke Rapids, the pair purchased a venue with a troubled past. Opening as the Randy Parton Theater about 20 years ago with state backing, the roughly 1,700-seat facility failed under the management of Dolly Parton’s brother. It sat vacant for more than a decade until the new owners reopened the space as the Weldon Mills Theater and began booking shows. Nearby, they’re wrapping up the renovation of a 30,000-seat outdoor amphitheater. Plans call for the first concert there in April.
Crystal Clear
In the fall of 2018, Tyler was sitting on his back porch, sipping bourbon and puffing on a cigar, when he texted Hinderliter with an idea for a business. “Make booze” drew an affirmative response from his longtime friend.
Tyler scouted for distillery sites within an hour’s drive of Rocky Mount. After finding the historic Weldon mill online, he visited the property, which was for sale. Standing on a bridge over the Roanoke River, he was taken by the clarity of the water.
“You can see all the way down to the bottom,’’ he says. Later, he learned that the river water is hard, another favorable condition for making liquor. “It just became a no-brainer. That was where we were going to do business.’’
The partners purchased the mill and the old garment factory in early 2019. Neither knew how to make liquor, so Tyler connected with master distiller Mike Norman on a distillery organization’s site. A native of Franklin in western North Carolina, Norman grew up making moonshine before working at a distillery in Iowa. Enduring one Midwestern winter was enough, prompting him to move back to North Carolina and set up Weldon Mills’ distillery from scratch.
“Once we brought him on board, life became a whole lot easier,’’ Tyler says. “He completely filled that knowledge gap and took care of us. I’m a firm believer in that people are put in your lives for reasons.’’
While Tyler manages the business and Hinderliter concentrates on administrative duties, both knew they needed marketing help as revenue climbed. Tyler’s father recommended his son reach out to family acquaintance Monsell Darville, a former marketing executive with liquor giant Bacardi.
Tyler invited Darville to visit Weldon Mills Distillery. “He thought he was coming down for just a date, but he didn’t realize I was tricking him into getting married,” Tyler says. “This guy’s the real deal. He brought us Grey Goose and Bombay Sapphire and a bunch of other products.’’
Darville joined the distillery and recommended the owners hire the St. Louis-based Collina Digital marketing firm. They now handle all digital efforts and produced a “website that went from looking like my son did it to looking professional,” Tyler says.’
The distillery’s first product was Soldier’s Cut, which at 82-proof had significance for Tyler because he had served in the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade. A portion of profits from Soldier’s Cut goes to Gold Star Families, a program that supports families of fallen service members.
Tyler’s brother-in-law Josh Silverman died in December 2013 when an improvised explosive device brought down the Black Hawk helicopter he was piloting in Afghanistan. Only one of the seven soldiers aboard survived.
“I got to see firsthand what the Army did well and what they didn’t do well,’’ Tyler says.
The distillery began producing Soldier’s Cut in 2019, with plans to start selling the bourbon the following summer after it had matured. The onset of the pandemic in early 2020 didn’t interfere with the maturation process, but forced the distillery’s bar and grill patrons to keep their distance from one another.
A visitor at the scenic river setting suggested that Tyler host RV camping. He signed up the distillery as a member of Harvest Host, an RV camping website. The distillery doesn’t charge camping fees, but it sells liquor to visitors, which helped generate sales during the pandemic.
“We had just gotten started, and then the rug got ripped out from underneath us,’’ Tyler says.
In early 2020, Weldon Mills Distillery made hand sanitizer that it gave to visitors, first responders and others at no charge. “People were paying $300 a gallon for the stuff,” he adds. “That seemed predatory to me. I thought the right thing to do was help out the community.’’
Earlier this year, Tyler and Hinderliter expanded distribution by opening a speakeasy-style bar and event venue in downtown Durham. Hinderliter, 40, lives in the building penthouse. Tyler, 50, lives in Rocky Mount, where he started looking for a new adventure as he was preparing to retire in 2020 from the U.S. Army and N.C. National Guard.
The new facility mixes and bottles spirits, but doesn’t distill there. “I don’t want to put something that can explode in the middle of downtown Durham,” Tyler says. ■
