Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey CEO to visit Columbus retailers

The CEO of a major Black-owned spirits brand is in the middle of a nationwide thank-you tour — and Columbus is on the list.

Fawn Weaver, of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, is visiting the company’s top retailers, restaurants, hotels, bars and distributors in 100 cities.

On June 29, she will stop in Ohio’s capital city, which is home to both businesses and investors excited about the brand. She will provide live updates on her whereabouts at instagram.com/fawn.weaver.

Since the start of the tour in April, Weaver said she has engaged with people of all backgrounds who have come together to celebrate Nathan “Nearest” Green, the first-known Black master distiller, and namesake of the company.

“It has been amazing,” said Weaver, 45, of Shelbyville, Tennessee, where the 323-acre Nearest Green distillery is located. “It's like, if there is one thing that everybody can agree on, it is that the legacy of Nearest Green should be cemented for every future generation.”

A formerly enslaved man, Green built a reputation as a distiller in Lynchburg, Tennessee, in the 1800s. He taught Jack Daniel the craft, and worked as a master distiller for the Jack Daniel Distillery. However, his story wasn’t widely known until the New York Times wrote about it in 2016.

A best-selling author and entrepreneur of 27 years, Weaver researched Green, and opened the award-winning whiskey company in his honor in 2017. In 2019, she hired Victoria Eady Butler, a descendent of Green, who is the first-known Black woman to hold the title of whiskey master blender.

Now available in 50 states and 12 countries, Uncle Nearest is one of the fastest-growing American whiskey brands. Its products include the Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey, Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Aged Whiskey and the Uncle Nearest Master Blend edition.

Only the 1884 Small Batch Whiskey ($49.99) is available in Ohio stores, restaurants and bars, according to the Ohio Liquor website, though more cases of the Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Aged Whiskey ($59.99) are expected to arrive soon.

Many locations are sold out both locally and nationally.

“Every single day, we bottle and ship a thousand cases,” Weaver said.

“That is unheard of for an independent brand. And no matter where I go in this country, they want more. There has never been an opportunity for a spirit conglomerate to be built by someone who was not a white male until now. And I get the sense that the buyers, retail stores, restaurant general managers and hotel general managers understand we're on the precipice of doing something that has never been achieved in this country. And they want to be a part of it.”

Weiland's Market in Clintonville can't keep Uncle Nearest on the shelves, according to beverage manager Todd Lacy.

"It's incredibly difficult to get in for the state of Ohio because it's so popular," said Lacy, who said the store is currently sold out. "When somebody is able to get one, it's not just finding a unicorn; it's finding a unicorn with a purple horn and pink wings."

Chris Cruceta, general manager of the Buckeye Bourbon House Downtown, said the whiskey brand is popular among customers.

"It has a really good, wholesome backstory," he said. "It's really easy to support and it's really good for the price. It tastes really high-tier. You definitely feel the punch when you're drinking Uncle Nearest."

Crafted Culture Brewing, the first Black-owned brewery in central Ohio, made it a point to carry Uncle Nearest and other Black-owned brands of liquor.

Owner Anthony "Sizzle" Perry Jr. said he had plans to meet with Weaver during the week of her visit.

"Part of our mission is to help the Black dollar make its way around the block," said Perry, who opened the brewery in Gahanna, but is relocating the business Downtown. "We couldn't rightfully do that if we were only carrying brands that were not owned by or endorsed by African Americans."

East Chop Capital, a Black-owned private equity firm in Columbus, raised over $1 million in 48 hours to invest in Uncle Nearest.

"We are huge supporters of Black enterprises," said co-owner Carrington Carter. "The story is what really captured us. It always helps when you have a great product. (But) I still think we are in the early innings of people figuring out this product and the story of Nearest Green."

Weaver said she is seeing more Black people enter the industry, and she has begun investing in minority-owned alcohol brands through a venture fund.

More: 20 Black-owned businesses you can support in the Columbus area

Besides access to capital, Weaver said Black entrepreneurs face other barriers that prevent them from working in the field.

“Service is not an industry that our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents, especially, want to see us in because when we were dumped into this country, we could only do one thing and that was serve,” she said.

Fawn also explained that alcohol is viewed negatively in many Black families, due to religious beliefs.

“Our parents have to deal with their religious friends asking them, ‘So how do you feel about your child being a bartender? How do you feel about your child being a mixologist?’ ” she said. “My mom said, ‘I am so proud of what you are doing for that man and his family, but I sure do wish he made lemonade.’ ”

Weaver is helping Green’s descendants by providing them with full-tuition college scholarships through the Nearest Green Foundation.

And she hopes other stories of Black distillers are uncovered.

“All those Kentucky bourbon distilleries, rest assured they had Black distillers,” she said. “At some point, somebody has to be bold enough to say, ‘We're going to tell the truth.’”

Dispatch reporter Taijuan Moorman contributed to this story.

ethompson@dispatch.com

@miss_ethompson

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey CEO Fawn Weaver to visit Columbus