Fawn Weaver is the Co-founder, CEO and Chief Historian of Uncle Nearest, Inc.
(October 20, 2019)
Ask Fawn Weaver what she would like to do most if she had the time and money and she will answer, “I’m already doing it.”
Weaver is a co-founder, CEO and Chief Historian of Uncle Nearest, Inc., maker of an award-winning premium whiskey named after Nathan “Nearest” Green, a former enslaved man on record as the first African American master distiller. As the first master distiller for Jack Daniel Distillery, Uncle Nearest, as family members called him, used his own process to develop one of the country’s most recognizable whiskey brands. It’s assumed he gained the name called Uncle Nearest because he was “nearest and dearest” to so many who knew him.
Weaver, 43, is a savvy executive who relishes in the success she has brought to the brand which launched in July 2017. Through her hard work and focus she has gained national and international recognition and was recently honored as one of “25 Outstanding Black Women in Business” by The Network Journal, where she recounted, “We are the very first of any major spirit brands to commemorate an African-American in history.”
Because of Weaver, Nathan “Nearest” Green, who helped perfect the Lincoln County Process, a requirement in being categorized as Tennessee Whiskey, is now referred to as the “godfather of Tennessee whiskey.” The Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey is currently distilled, aged and bottled in Tennessee and is the fastest-growing independent whiskey brand in American history, with a presence in nearly 6,000 stores, bars and restaurants. Uncle Nearest is available in all 50 states and 10 countries (including the U.K. and South Africa) with shipping available to 148 countries. “We’re branching out quite a bit,” Weaver says.
Most exciting is the news that on September 5, 2019, Uncle Nearest opened the Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville, Tennessee. The 270-acre equine facility has long been a showplace which has a rich history of Tennessee Walking Horse champions. Weaver, a horse lover herself, owns a Black Stallion named “Toppy”—a Tennessee Walker, and plans to continue to operate it as an equine facility with attractions, demonstrations and riding offered to visitors.
Known as the Nearest Green Distillery at Sand Creek Farms, the facility is open to the public, with a visitor center, a small bar, gift shop, and tours of the operation. Additional aspects of the operation, both in terms of whiskey production and tourism, will follow in 2020 and beyond.
The liquid for Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey is currently sourced with two Tennessee distilleries still making whiskey the way Nearest did. Once fully built out, the Nearest Green Distillery will distill, age and bottle all Uncle Nearest Products. And, if all goes as planned the distillery enterprise will bring many new opportunities for economic development and employment to the area. Weaver chose the Shelbyville Sand Creek Farm location for highway logistical reasons and out of respect for Lynchburg’s identity as the home of the Jack Daniel Distillery.
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Weaver and her husband, Keith, have also established the Nearest Green Foundation in honor of Green. Of its current 12 projects, her favorite is the Nearest Green Legacy Scholarship awarded to all direct descendants of Green attending college. “The needs of others fuel me, not financial success,” Weaver asserts. “But I am able to use the latter to invest in the first.”
A seasoned businessperson, Weaver’s first entrepreneurial endeavor started right after finishing high school. She is a profound TED speaker, holds investments in real estate, technology, and several lifestyle brands; and a USA Today and New York Times best-selling author.
The world is discovering Uncle Nearest and his prevailing legacy has spun a torrent of interest. Bourbon+ Editor-In-Chief Fred Minnick wrote a 10-page cover story, A Taste of History: With Investment in Uncle Nearest, Actor Jeffrey Wright Joins a Whiskey Movement, showcased a debut interview about Wright’s investment in the rapidly growing brand. Wright, an Emmy award-winning actor, became intrigued about the brand in 2016 after reading a New York Times story that detailed the profound contributions Uncle Nearest made to Tennessee Whiskey history. Excitedly sharing his story in bars he would visit, Wright, a year later read another story, this time it was about Fawn Weaver and he learned of her passion to illuminate Uncle Nearest to the masses. Wright made his way to connect with Weaver, became an investor and together they continue to propel the legacy of Uncle Nearest.
Earlier this year, Wright was instrumental in narrating the company’s first national television commercial, aptly titled “The Why,” it was unprecedented in the spirits industry due to its unscripted nature, following Uncle Nearest team members to bars, restaurants and spirit shops around the country as they shared this great American story and the brand inspired by it.
Following the commercial, a full-length, short film, “The Story of Nearest Green,” also narrated by Wright, debuted in New York City in March 2019 at the Tribeca Film Center. Wright was on site to speak to attendees and shared the illuminating story of his own family’s history in the whiskey business — Wright’s grandfather discretely sold whiskey in the 1950s, with his great-grandmother teaching his grandfather how to distill. It’s these stories that Wright detailed in his conversations with Minnick, and that are relayed in the Bourbon+ cover story.
Currently, Uncle Nearest features its core 1856 Premium Aged Whiskey ($60), a single barrel whiskey offering, Nearest Green 1820 ($119), and launched this July 1884 Premium Small Batch ($50). 1884 furthers the brand’s efforts to honor Nearest’s legacy as each batch is curated by a different descendant of his with the back label of each bottle signed by the descendant who created that batch. The first batch was curated by Victoria Eady-Butler, the great-great-granddaughter of Nearest.
“The beauty of our brand and the celebrities and influencers who have joined our whiskey movement is, in each instance, they sought me out,” said Fawn Weaver through a Bourbon+ magazine June press release. “We’ve never gone out looking for people to endorse our brand, and that is a part of what makes the involvement of incredible people like Jeffrey Wright so amazing. They are doing it from their hearts, and because of their love for and belief in our brand and our commitment to cementing the legacy of Nearest Green for generations to come.”
About Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey
Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey is inspired by the best whiskey-maker the world never knew, the first African American master distiller on record in the United States, Nathan “Nearest” Green. The Uncle Nearest brand, wholly owned by Uncle Nearest, Inc., encompasses a premium aged, a small batch select, and an 11-year-old single barrel product, all threedistilled, aged, bottled and hand-labeled in Tennessee.
Uncle Nearest is an award-winning spirit, garnering more than 50 awards since its July 2017 debut, including being one of two brands named “World’s Best” at Whisky Magazine’s 2019 World Whiskies Awards, winning “Best American Whiskey” at the NOLA Bourbon Festival, and earning a Best of Class – Platinum and Double Gold Medal at the 2019 SIP Awards, a Chairman’s Trophy at the 2019 Ultimate Beverage Challenge, a Double Gold Medal at the 2018 China Wine & Spirits Awards, and Gold Medals at the 2019 and 2018 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Cigar & Spirits Magazine has also named Uncle Nearest one of the “Top 5 Whiskies in the World.” For more information please visit the Uncle Nearest website, and follow on Instagram and Facebook.
DRINK HONORABLY™ © 2019 Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey | Alcohol 50% Volume (100 proof)
