HERE'S WHY UNCLE NEAREST PREMIUM WHISKEY IS THE EPITOME OF 'EMBRACE EQUITY'
Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey popped up on my radar this month. It is a female owned and led spirits company fronted by serial entrepreneur, Fawn Weaver, who has masterfully created a brand that stands out in the traditionally male dominated whisky industry.
Nearest Green Distillery opened in Shelbyville, Tennessee in September 2019. This 323-acre distillery is the first in U.S. history to commemorate an African-American whiskey maker, and is the only major distillery in the country owned and operated by a Black person. In March 2021, Weaver was named to the Endeavor Group Holdings board of directors, alongside Elon Musk. She was also appointed to serve on its audit committee.
It is very clear that Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey is an inspirational female powerhouse. It is the fastest growing independent whiskey brand in U.S. history and is now on a mission to build a presence in the UK. Impressively, it is the most awarded American Whiskey; and the company exceeded sales of over $100 million USD in October 2022.
The talented Victoria Eady Butler, great-great-granddaughter of ‘Uncle Nearest’ himself (the man that taught Jack Daniels everything he knew), is the brand’s master blender and the first female African American master blender in history. She is also the first Black woman to win Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky for Master Blender of the Year in 2021.
Fawn Weaver is also the founder of the Nearest Green Foundation, a non-profit organisation that offers full scholarships to every descendant of Nearest Green, the world’s first known African-American master distiller. Through their Operation Brother’s Keeper initiative, the Foundation supplied more than 300,000 N-95 and cloth masks to workers on the frontline and people in disadvantaged communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, in response to the BLM movement, the Foundation formed an alliance with Jack Daniel Distillery to create the Nearest and Jack Advancement Initiative, to elevate people of color within the American whiskey industry and to greatly increase diversity in the spirits industry overall. In 2021, Weaver created the Uncle Nearest Venture Fund, a $50 million fund to invest in minority (BIPOC and women) founded, owned and led brands with the greatest potential to grow into long-standing legacy brands.
We cannot wait to see what Fawn does next and look forward to collaborating with her!
