Whiskey Brand ‘Uncle Nearest’ Pays Homage to Black Man Who Taught Jack Daniel How to Distill

Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey has been the newest distillery to open its doors to the public in Shelby, Tennessee, in honor of whiskey’s first African American distiller, Nathan Green.

What We Know:

  • The whiskey brand was created by CEO, co-founder and Chief Historian Fawn Weaver, to honor Nathan ‘Nearest’ Green, who has been deemed the “Godfather of Tennessee Whiskey,” reports PRNewswire. Green is reportedly responsible for teaching a young Jack Daniel how to make Tennessee Whiskey.
  • Weaver does not want the spotlight to be on her solely, instead she wants to make sure that the world pays attention to Green and his family’s history instead. “It may seem cliché to keep pushing the spotlight away from me and toward Nearest, his legacy, his family and the Uncle Nearest team, but it is the way it should be,” she says. “Until last year, the vast majority of the world had no idea who Nearest was, and we have a long way to go before his name is more fully recognized. But it is because of the passion and hard work of the Uncle Nearest team that I have no doubt we are well on our way to making Nearest Green a household name around the world.”
  • The Premium Aged Whiskey has won several awards over the past year-and-a-half for the brand’s quality and taste. It has made history as the first owned, founded and led brand to be honored as Forbes 2019 World’s Best Tennessee Whiskey. It is also the first time in the whiskey industry that an African American was the inspiration behind a brand’s product.
  • Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey is 100% owned by Uncle Nearest, Inc.

Nathan ‘Nearest’ Green

Uncle Nearest is now available for delivery in 46 states.