Tucked into a historic brick building at 437 E South St in downtown Wooster, Minglewood Distilling Co & The Ice Plant occupies what was once the Minglewood Coal and Ice Company, an industrial operation that supplied the city with coal and ice from the 1880s through the 1950s before the building eventually sat vacant. Founded in 2015 by a father-son team, Andy Morrison and his father Mark, Minglewood is the only distillery currently operating in Wayne County. Andy’s father brings a background in machining and metalwork to the operation, and rather than buying equipment off the shelf, he built the distillery’s still and fermenter by hand, along with much of the store’s fixtures. Minglewood produces bourbon, rye, wheat whiskey, gin, and vodka, all distilled from grain grown exclusively in Wayne County, Ohio. In a departure from most craft distilleries, none of their whiskeys use malted barley in the mashbill, a choice driven by the simple fact that Wayne County farmers plant barley almost exclusively as a cover crop rather than a harvested grain. Everything Minglewood bottles is single barrel, poured straight from the barrel and proofed down with water rather than batched or blended for consistency, with select cask-strength releases bottled as-is. The rehabbed space still carries traces of its industrial past, including original cork insulation visible in the still room, a holdover from the building’s days as a working ice plant. Minglewood distills seasonally, running stills from November through April, and ages spirits in a three-story, steam-heated rickhouse where barrels are actively rotated throughout the aging process. The distillery also hosts an annual barrel signing event, inviting participants to select and sign a barrel, return each year to taste its progress, and vote alongside other signers on when it’s ready for bottling. Those who sign get first access to purchase the bottle once it’s released. Beyond the tasting room, Minglewood operates The Ice Plant, an on-site event space used for weddings, corporate events, and live music.