In last months I got many questions about Nevada distillery laws and licensing possibilities so I tried to summarize what we did until now and what is the legal background in our state in this moment.

In Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) DISTILLER is defined as a supplier.

NRS 369.111 “Supplier” defined. As used in this chapter, “supplier” means, with respect to liquor which is brewed, distilled, fermented, manufactured, rectified, produced or bottled:

1. Outside the United States:

(a) The brewer, distiller, manufacturer, producer, rectifier, vintner or bottler of the liquor, or his designated agent; or

(b) The owner of the liquor when it is first transported into any area under the jurisdiction of the United States Government, if the brewer, distiller, manufacturer, rectifier, producer, vintner or bottler of the liquor, or a designated agent of such a person, has not designated an importer to import the liquor into this State;

2. Within the United States but outside this State, the brewer, distiller, manufacturer, rectifier, producer, vintner or bottler of the liquor, or his designated agent; or

3. Within this State, the distiller, manufacturer, rectifier, producer or bottler of the liquor or his designated agent.

(Added to NRS by 1981, 1009; A 2003, 971; 2005, 1324)

This means that is not prohibited to open a distillery in Nevada but there is no license category for distilling operation.

These are the possible license categories in NRS:

NRS 369.300 Schedule of fees for licenses. The following is a schedule of fees to be charged for licenses:
Importer’s wine, beer and liquor license: $500
Importer’s beer license: $150
Wholesale wine, beer and liquor license: $250
Wholesale beer dealer’s license: $ 75
Wine-maker’s license: $ 75
License for an instructional wine-making facility: $ 75
Brew pub’s license: $ 75
Brewer’s license: $ 75

The reason why is no Distillery License category is very simple: after the prohibition nobody asked for it. In August, 2008 we were the first one, who called the State and asked them what is the possibility to open a small artisan distillery in Nevada. Because Distiller is defined as a Supplier the answer was that is not prohibited but there is no detailed description how a distillery can operate, opposite to a brewery, brewery pub and winery which have an operation description.

This is what we found in the NRS about brewery pub and winery:

NRS 597.230 Operation of brew pub.
1. In a county whose population is 400,000 or more, a person may operate a brew pub:
(a) In any redevelopment area established in that county pursuant to NRS 279.382 to 279.685, inclusive;
(b) In any historic district established in that county pursuant to NRS 384.005;
(c) In any retail liquor store as that term is defined in NRS 369.090; or
(d) In any other area in the county designated by the board of county commissioners for the operation of brew pubs. In a city which is located in that county, a person may operate a brew pub in any area in the city designated by the governing body of that city for the operation of brew pubs.
A person who operates one or more brew pubs may not manufacture more than 15,000 barrels of malt beverages for all the brew pubs he operates in that county in any calendar year

2. In a county whose population is less than 400,000, a person may operate a brew pub:
(a) In any redevelopment area established in that county pursuant to NRS 279.382 to 279.685;
(b) In any historic district established in that county pursuant to NRS 384.005;
(c) In any retail liquor store as that term is defined in NRS 369.090; or
(d) In any other area in the county designated by the board of county commissioners for the operation of brew pubs. In a city which is located in that county, a person may operate a brew pub in any area in the city designated by the governing body of that city for the operation of brew pubs.
A person who operates one or more brew pubs may not manufacture more than 5,000 barrels of malt beverages for all brew pubs he operates in that county in any calendar year.

3. The premises of any brew pub operated pursuant to this section must be conspicuously identified as a “brew pub.”

4. A person who operates a brew pub pursuant to this section may, upon obtaining a license pursuant to chapter 369 of NRS and complying with any other applicable governmental requirements:
(a) Manufacture and store malt beverages on the premises of the brew pub and sell and transport the malt beverages manufactured on the premises to a person holding a valid wholesale wine and liquor dealer’s license or wholesale beer dealer’s license issued pursuant to chapter 369 of NRS.
(b) Sell at retail malt beverages manufactured on or off the premises of the brew pub for consumption on the premises.
(c) Sell at retail in packages sealed on the premises of the brew pub, malt beverages, including malt beverages in unpasteurized form, manufactured on the premises for consumption off the premises.

(Added to NRS by 1991, 383; A 1995, 1570, 1571)

NRS 597.240 Operation of winery authorized in smaller counties.

1. A winery located in a county whose population is 100,000 or less, if it is federally bonded, may:

(a) Import wine or juice from a bonded winery in another state, to be fermented into wine or, if already fermented, to be mixed with other wine or aged in a suitable cellar, or both.

(b) Sell at retail or serve by the glass, on its premises and at one other location, wine produced, blended or aged by the winery. The amount of wine sold at a location other than on the premises of the winery may not exceed 50 percent of the total volume of the wine sold by the winery.

(c) Serve by the glass, on its premises, any alcoholic beverage.

2. For the purposes of this section, an instructional wine-making facility is not a winery. This section does not prohibit a person from operating an instructional wine-making facility in any county.

(Added to NRS by 1991, 108; A 1993, 325, 1442; 2005, 1273)

On March 24, 2009  we contacted Senator Nolan’s office regarding Nevada “Distillery License” and they said that submitting a new bill deadline expired last week and at this moment we can propose only an amendment to an existing bill proposal to find a possible resolution for this situation.

On March 25, 2009 we contacted  Assemblyman, Majority Leader John Oceguera to ask him about the possibilities.

He was very kind with us and made a detailed search and in his opinion a distillery may function similar like the already existing entities.

On April 9, 2009 we got an email from Mr. Oceguera that now is too late to introduce the Distillery License but we will have the possibility to work on this in next 2011 session.

So with a “letter of compliance” given by the State of Nevada it is a possibility to open a distillery and manufacture alcohol without having a Distillery License.

The challenge to open a distillery in Nevada starts on local level because not having clear state laws (license category) the local authorities may interpret differently the situation.

We introduced in Clark County the “Alcohol Manufacturing License” but unfortunately the license was connected with a M2 zoning, which gives a very limited area where you can operate in the county. So after 6 months waiting to get started we had to change all our plans and distillery location. We did not find a proper unit in Las Vegas City, which would pass the very strict Fire Department codes so we hoped that in Henderson we will have more luck. We got lot of help and after 4 months we had the right zoning.  (Updated info in the STATUS section)

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September, 2o1o

We started to work on the new distillery license proposal for the 2011 Nevada Legislature Session.

Please contact us if you would like to participate in this “historical” process.

We would like to thank everybody who supports and helps to introduce the Nevada Distillery and Artisan Distillery License categories!

October 21, 2010

Today Mr. Alonso (Mr. Oceguera proposed to discuss with him the details of the Distillery Licenses) emailed us that would be great to meat after the elections in mid-November and work together on the Distillery Licenses!

Thank you, we are looking forward to meet Mr. Alonso and finalize the language of the Nevada Distillery Licenses for the 2011 Nevada Legislature Session.

December 13, 2010

Breaking News!:) We are on the official Nevada Legislature 2011 List as “Bill Draft 649 / Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor: Provides for licensing and operating distilleries in Nevada.” We would like to thank Mr. John Oceguera for his kind help to make this possible and we appreciate the advices of Mr. Alonso and Mr. Wadhams and the cooperation of distributors and many other very nice people! THANK YOU!