Uncle Nearest whiskies

History

For more than a century, Nearest Green’s role in the origins of Jack Daniel’s was hardly told outside Lynchburg. In 2016 a newspaper article brought his story to light, and the writer and entrepreneur Fawn Weaver set out to document it, tracking down his descendants and recovering records. The brand was born of that work in 2017, with the idea that his name would at last appear on a label. The first whiskeys were made with spirit from other Tennessee houses, and the brand then bought a large estate in Shelbyville to build its own distillery. A direct descendant of Green has been its master blender.

House style

Uncle Nearest’s whiskeys follow the Tennessee style: smooth, sweet and with the character given by maple charcoal filtering. The 1856, bottled at 50% ABV, is rich and spicy, with caramel, vanilla, banana, sweet spices and present oak. The brand also offers single barrel and higher-strength versions. The higher-strength versions benefit from a few drops of water or an ice cube, which open up the sweetness and soften the alcohol.

Where to start

Uncle Nearest 1856 is the catalogue’s entry and the natural gateway to the brand. If you like it, compare it with Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 and George Dickel No. 12 to see three ways of understanding Tennessee whiskey, and with Jack Daniel’s Bonded, which has a similar strength.

• Uncle Nearest 1856Tennessee whiskey · 50% ABV