Nearest Green Distillery

Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville, Tennessee is the production home of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, the brand built to tell the story of Nathan Green, the enslaved and later free master distiller who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. Founded in 2017, Uncle Nearest has grown from a single sourced blend into a fully distilling Tennessee whiskey producer, and the Shelbyville campus now anchors both the brand's production and its public-facing visitor experience at 3125 US-231 North.

History & Heritage

Fawn Weaver and Keith Weaver founded Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, which debuted in July 2017 built around the documented history of Nathan Green, known as Uncle Nearest, who is widely credited as America's first known Black master distiller and the man who taught a young Jack Daniel to distill. The company has said that many details of Green's life remain unclear because historical record-keeping for enslaved people was limited, so Uncle Nearest presents his story as company-researched history built from the available record rather than a fully unbroken archival account. The brand's earliest whiskeys, including the original 1856 and 1884 blends, were sourced from another Tennessee whiskey distillery while Uncle Nearest built its own production. By 2022, Breaking Bourbon confirmed the whiskey had transitioned to being fully distilled, aged, and bottled by Uncle Nearest itself, with aging on its own stock dating back to 2017. Production now runs across two Tennessee sites: distilling in Columbia, Tennessee, and aging, blending, and bottling at the Shelbyville campus.

The Whiskey

The Reserve Whiskey Library at The Sentinel Room carries four Uncle Nearest expressions. Uncle Nearest Whiskey 1856 is the brand's inaugural blend, bottled at 100 proof, now built from Uncle Nearest's own barrel stock. Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey is bottled at 93 proof and curated by Victoria Eady Butler, a fifth-generation descendant of Nathan Green and the brand's master blender. Uncle Nearest Single Barrel Whiskey is bottled at barrel strength. Uncle Nearest Straight Rye Whiskey is built from a 100 percent rye mash bill, matured in used Uncle Nearest barrels, and bottled at 100 proof, though Breaking Bourbon has reported the rye itself originates from an undisclosed Canadian source rather than Tennessee distillate. All expressions apply the Lincoln County Process, the charcoal mellowing step through sugar maple charcoal that legally distinguishes Tennessee whiskey from bourbon. Since its 2017 debut, the portfolio has earned more than 1,075 awards and accolades, including Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2020, 2021, and 2022, a Wine Enthusiast Spirit Brand of the Year honor, two Ultimate Spirits Challenge Chairman's Trophies, and three World's Best titles at Whisky Magazine's World Whiskies Awards.

Why It Matters

Uncle Nearest is owned, as of July 2026, by Uncle Nearest, Inc., with Fawn Weaver as founder, CEO, and largest shareholder. Ownership and day-to-day control are not currently the same thing: in August 2025, a federal judge placed the company into court-appointed receivership after lender Farm Credit Mid-America sued over more than $108 million in alleged loan defaults. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition Fawn Weaver filed in March 2026 was dismissed by the court, which affirmed the receiver's continued operational control, and in the same month the founders sued Farm Credit Mid-America, alleging a smear campaign against the brand. That legal dispute remains unresolved as of July 2026. Despite the litigation, the brand's significance is undisputed: Uncle Nearest is the vehicle that finally attached Nathan Green's name and craft to the credit Jack Daniel's own company now formally acknowledges, and Nearest Green Distillery is where that recognition is distilled, aged, and bottled into whiskey people can actually taste.

Visiting the Distillery

Nearest Green Distillery offers tours and tastings, with reservations recommended given demand. The campus includes the Barrel House II restaurant and Humble Baron, a bar reported to measure more than 500 linear feet, along with retail and event space for groups.