There are times when my love of history gets the better of me and everything gets put on the shelf to satiate my curiosity. See I picked this bottle up a couple of weekends ago thinking that as I was running short on things to write about, I might as well pick up one that I’d walked past a couple of times and give it a shot.
I knew that it was named after the first Master Distiller of Jack Daniel’s (and the guy who taught him how to make whiskey). I also knew that Nathan “Nearest” Green was a slave and had been left out of the official story somewhere along the way. I knew all of this because I read it in an article by Clay Risen in the New York Times back in 2016 (though later I learned that the name “Nearis” that he used was incorrect). If you go read that article…stay away from the comments, the racists came out in force for that one…I think I need a bath now.
But by picking up the bottle, I was reminded of the story and decided to see what I could find that had been learned in the intervening years. I read articles, listened to podcasts and watched videos. I learned that Fawn Weaver, credited as “an African-American real estate investor and author” by the New York Times had also read that article. Unlike me, she read it and noticed the things that were missing and decided to go on a quest to find the missing pieces of the story. Pieces like the fact that Nathan Green was not Jack Daniel’s slave, there is no record he owned any and that Jack was friends with Nathan’s son, giving him pride of place right next to him in a company photo.
Along the way, Ms. Wever helped to convince Brown-Forman to follow through on their decision to start giving Nathan Green his rightful place in their history books. Quoting the New York Times from the article above on why the company needed the push:
The company had intended to recognize Green’s role as master distiller last year as part of its 150th anniversary celebration, Mr. McCallum said, but decided to put off any changes amid the racially charged run-up to the 2016 election. “I thought we would be accused of making a big deal about it for commercial gain.”
It’s on their website and in the tour scripts now. I guess it’s a case of better late than never. Not that I blame them. These days you can get in trouble from one side for bringing it up and being “politically correct” and from the other side for ever leaving it out in the first place. It really could have been seen as a no-win situation. Luckily they got a little push and jumped at the chance to do the right thing.
And the Uncle Nearest brand of whiskey? Well Fawn Weaver, with input from Nathan Green’s descendants, decided that the best way to honor the man was to put his name on a bottle. CBSNews says that “Some of the proceeds from the whiskey's sales go into a foundation designed to ensure that each of Green's descendants get a college education. So far, 10 of them have graduated from college.”
If you have 10 minutes or so, I’d recommend checking out the video below (the Vimeo settings won’t let me embed it, but just click on the image to go to the Vimeo page). It is beautifully written and shot. It has Jeffery Wright in it (dude’s a National Treasure). It’s also a much more involved version of the story above that includes more details than I could include here. It may be a long advertisement, but if the story is true and they bring the receipts, does it matter?
Uncle Nearest 1856
Purchase Info: $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Blue Max, Burnsville, MN
Price per Drink (50ml): $3.33
Details: 50% ABV
Nose: Dry oak, wintergreen, brown sugar, nutmeg
Mouth: Honey, Flintstone's Vitamins, hot baking spices
Finish: Warm and medium length. Notes of caramel, honey, chewable vitamins and baking spice.
Thoughts: This is pretty good. It has strong mineral notes, and since it is sourced from somewhere in Tennessee, my guess there is at least some Dickel in there. I like it. I’d recommend it.
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