![]() Fawn Weaver gathers with the descendants of Nathan “Nearest” Green (Marc Bagani) And it was important that she reached out and brought the family into the process.”Įady-Butler is also the first descendant to be personally involved in the whiskey-making process at Uncle Nearest - two releases of the brand’s 1884 blend were curated (in part) by her. It’s our family’s name and legacy she’s brought out. “Fawn didn’t want to start a distillery until she met most of the family,” says Victoria Eady-Butler, a great-great-granddaughter to Nearest Green, former Department of Justice officer and current Director of Administration for Uncle Nearest. While she initially thought her research would lead to a book or a movie, it was actually one of Green’s family members who suggested honoring their great-great-grandfather with a bottle. “I told everyone: I’m not here to harm your family’s legacy,” Weaver remembers. She also met with Nearest’s descendants … who were, admittedly, wary. She flew down to Lynchburg and began to do research, combing through old paperwork and putting ads in local papers soliciting historical documents. “I read it, and I had a passion for it I didn’t understand,” she says. In the same way that white cookbook authors often appropriated recipes from their black cooks, white distillery owners took credit for the whiskey.”įawn Weaver, a historian, real estate investor and best-selling author ( Happy Wives Club), took note. “Enslaved men not only made up the bulk of the distilling labor force, but they often played crucial skilled roles in the whiskey-making process. “Slavery and whiskey, far from being two separate strands of Southern history, were inextricably entwined,” Risen wrote. ![]() Green’s 1967 somewhat forgotten biography Jack Daniel’s Legacy), the brand hadn’t exactly gone out of its way to honor Green’s legacy. ![]() ![]() While that fact wasn’t actually a secret (it was documented in Ben A. It’s a startling read: the creator of one of the world’s most famous whiskies had actually learned his trade from a slave - Nearest Green. His feature, “Jack Daniel’s Embraces a Hidden Ingredient: Help From a Slave,” came out the same year that the venerable Tennessee whiskey brand was celebrating its 150th year. Three years ago, Clay Risen wrote a story the New York Times. The story that begins with one man: Nathan “Nearest” Green, a 19th-century slave and perhaps the most important character in the history of American whiskey. It touches on race and the true origins of whiskey in America, and it involves a healthy dose of investigative journalism. Rather, the origin of Uncle Nearest is a hidden and long overdue story that’s more than 150 years old. So if Uncle Nearest’s rise seems rather sudden and against the grain, it’s because Weaver isn’t quite correct in calling this a sprint. And if you know the whiskey world, you know that spirits usually take time. That’s an impressive feat for a company that didn’t even exist three years prior in any industry. It was a fitting “official” debut for Uncle Nearest, which is already America’s fastest growing independent whiskey brand, now distributed in all 50 states and 10 countries. Phase one (of four) of the distillery launched the following day, and the party was a success. I just hope to make it to the next point.” Uncle Nearest CEO Fawn Weaver speaks to guests at the opening celebration (Marc Bagani) I don’t assume I’m going to make it a full 26.2 miles. I look at life as a daily sprint, not a marathon. “If we were normal and sane, we’d open this in 2021,” said Weaver, playfully waving off a photo (hardhats and hair don’t go together, she added). The CEO and co-founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey was discussing the opening of a 270-acre distillery in Shelbyville, TN, the site of a former Tennessee Walking Horse farm.Īt the time of her statement, Weaver was also wearing a hard hat, conducting a pre-opening tour with a few members of the press and checking in with the 100+ workers (via a two-way radio feed) who were trying to get phase one of a working whiskey distillery open for a public party, to which thousands of nearby residents had RSVP-ed. When Fawn Weaver made that declaration, it was September 4th. “Without question, this is going to open on September 5th.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |