Nearest Green Distillery located in Shelbyville, Tennessee, owner of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey has announced it is the best-selling African American owned and founded spirit brand in history, selling nearly 1.5 million bottles of its sought after super premium whiskey.
Nearest Green Distillery was formed in 2017 by serial entrepreneur Fawn Weaver. As the Founder and CEO of the company Weaver knows how to hire and inspire talent. The company’s leadership team is made up of strong women including SVP Global Sales and Marketing Katharine Jerkens, Master Blender Victoria Eady Butler, Director of Whiskey Operations Sherrie Moore and Director of Marketing Lucia Creed.
“The spirits industry has never seen anything like this in all the years that data has been tracked through the three major data collection agencies for the industry,” said Donn Bichsel, founder of 3 Tier Beverages, a spirits data collection and analyzation company.
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“No African American founded and led spirit brand has ever come close to what the Uncle Nearest brand and team have done. We analyzed every piece of credible data and Uncle Nearest is undoubtedly the top seller of all time, with the rest of the top 10 being so far behind, that they barely registered.”
Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey debuted in July 2017 and expanded into all 50 states in less than two years. Built on its knack for sourcing the best of Tennessee Whiskeys and Bourbons, the whiskey is made using a non-temperature-controlled aging process and a unique post-aging double filtration method, which is then blended to perfection by fifth generation Nearest Green descendant and Uncle Nearest’s master blender, Victoria Eady Butler. This process, in part, has led to the whiskey garnering more than 160 awards in its first three years. Additionally, the groundbreaking company was a 2020 Inc. Magazine Best in Business honoree and earlier earned the standing of No. 10 on Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2021.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, Uncle Nearest was forced to throttle its growth, according to Fawn Weaver, CEO and founder of the brand. “Our bottling and distilling partner did an incredible job of ensuring every area of the distillery was socially distanced and followed the strictest COVID- 19 guidelines, which meant we could only move so quickly and had to cap our third full year at 120,000 cases sold,” said Weaver.
“In spite of that, the company recently announced to investors its ninth quarter in a row of more than 100% growth over the same time the previous year, and is on track to make that ten.”
This month, Uncle Nearest greatly increased its shipping and bottling capabilities at its distillery, with the company on track to sell 250,000 cases this year, only its fourth full year since their debut.
“I couldn’t be more excited that this announcement is coming on the heels of International Women’s Day, given that we are the only major spirit brand with an all-female executive team,” said Victoria Eady Butler.
“Reaching this achievement at this moment in time is important as it reminds folks that whiskey is the great equalizer. The support this brand has received has been across every race and gender. As it turns out, people just care that it’s a damn good whiskey, only matched by the remarkable legacy of my ancestor.”
Nearest Green Whiskey Available in all 50 States
The company’s whiskey portfolio is made up of Uncle Nearest’s Small Batch Whiskey with a suggested retail price of $49.99, Single Barrel Whiskey with a suggested retail price of $119, and its Aged Tennessee Whiskey with a suggested retail price of $59.99. Uncle Nearest Whiskey is available in all 50 states and 12 countries (while shipping into a total of 148 countries), in more than 21,000 stores, bars, restaurants, and at its 270-acre distillery and visitor center.
Learn more about Nearest Green Distillery.
View all Tennessee Distilleries.
Ground Breaking at the Nearest Green Distillery
We were on-site at the historic ground breaking for the Uncle Nearest Distillery in Shelbyville, Tennessee on September 5, 2019. This date has a lot of meaning to the brand. You can get that full story here – A Day on the Trail: Nearest Green Distillery Grand Opening – A Story of Love, Honor & Respect.
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