The result was Uncle Nearest’s first 1884 Small Batch Whiskey.Īnd right off the bat, Uncle Nearest 1884 was winning awards. “It was to give the family more opportunities to be involved,” Butler said. Weaver said she believed that Uncle Nearest needed to expand its line under one condition: A descendent of Nearest Green needed to blend it. "The thought was I would be in an administration role. “I hadn’t done anything like that before," Butler said. The addition of Butler, the first Black female whiskey master blender, would prove to be significant for Uncle Nearest in more ways than one.īutler’s great-great-grandfather was Nearest Green.ĭespite her familial relation to Uncle Nearest’s story and mission, Butler didn’t join the team until early 2019.Īlthough her first role wasn’t what she is doing now, less than 60 days in, Butler was asked by Weaver to blend their first small batch. Previously: 100 years after Tulsa Race Massacre, Uncle Nearest Whiskey launches fund for minority-owned spirits Read this: Nashville native and whiskey expert Clay Risen returns home to promote new book on bourbon history with each bottle it introduces – from its 1856 Premium Aged Whiskey to its Nathan Green 1870 Single Barrel to its 1884 Small Batch Whiskey. The fastest-growing whiskey brand in the country pays tribute to the first recorded African-American master distiller in U.S. When the Shelbyville-headquartered Uncle Nearest debuted in 2017, Green’s legacy was further resurrected. Uncle Nearest is named for master distiller Nathan "Nearest" Green, a former slave who taught Jack Daniel distilling in the 1800s – a tale that, until recently, was lost in history. Tennessee’s Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey was featured on Food & Wine's inaugural Drinks Innovators of the Year list.ĬEO Fawn Weaver and master blender Victoria Eady Butler were honored for their ongoing creativity and influence within the drinks space.
These were a delightful surprise for a drinker than doesn’t care so such for the typical Tennessee Whiskey, and I can easily keep Uncle Nearest on my bar for guests to try, hopefully not for the first time.Watch Video: How best-selling author altered the Jack Daniel's story
I was making a set of recommendations for my mother, who likes Kahlua when she comes to visit, and of the three I pulled out for her, the 1884 was her choice (mixed with 7-Up, of course). On ice, I wasn’t as much of a fan, with both bottles leaving behind a finish that was bitter and not as flavorful as the previous tries. The 100-proof 1856 presented itself as a much more typical Tennessee whiskey, with notes of toasted cereal, butter, and baking spices, and upon adding water did the same as the 1884, becoming even more spicy. Upon adding water, the spices revealed themselves more than when tried neat, but even neat this is a great whiskey for new drinkers, especially if they have a palate for sweet wines and mixed cocktails.
The cereals came through more on the palate as well as the sweetness, with notes of cotton-candy, sugary-caramel, and vanilla, but still it wasn’t as sickeningly sweet as I was led to believe it might be. Yes, it certainly has some of the familiar notes, like butter and toasted cereal, but they were secondary to the fruit-forwardness, the ethanol, honey, cinnamon and honey that surprised me on the first nosing. On the nose, it definitely has a defined sweetness unlike other whiskeys made in Tennessee. It’s said that some Uncle Nearest whiskeys (namely the 1884) is triple-filtered through the sugar maple charcoal, which would lend to the sweetness in the bottle. Green even mentored a young Jack Daniels, teaching him the whiskey making art and the filtering process which Jack Daniel’s distillery (and many other Tennessee-made whiskeys) use to this day. Green is credited with “perfecting” the Lincoln County Process, which is to slowly drip the distilled whiskey through charcoal made from sugar maple wood, which filters the whiskey for smell and taste, and “mellows” the whiskey. When Green was freed, he decided to stay on as Master Distiller, and took his earnings to a property outside of Lynchburg, where he bought his own house. Call placed a subordinate in charge, who kept Mr. When the still was objected to by the Reverend’s parish, Rev. One door that opened was that of Nathan Green, who had been a slave under the Lutheran Minister Dan Call, for whom Green was the Master Distiller of the Reverend’s back yard still. The photo I chose for Uncle Nearest is in recognition of Juneteenth, wherein after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, the slaves were given freedom and “the door was finally opened”.
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