Black-owned whiskey brand Uncle Nearest just hit $100 million in sales this past October, and experts say that as one of the fastest-growing companies on the market, it is the brand to look out for in the next year.
The 323-acre distillery is located in Shelbyville, Tennessee, and is family owned and operated. Founded in 2017 by the company’s current CEO Fawn Weaver, Uncle Nearest was later bolstered by Chief Business Officer Katharine Jerkens, and Nearest Green’s great-great-granddaughter (and the brand’s master blender) Victoria Eady Butler. In 2021, the family celebrated becoming the best-selling Black owned spirits brand in the United States.
“To reach this and every other milestone on our horizon, we continue to push nonstop, ” Weaver shared in the release. “Every cent we make in the future will continue to do the same. We have an entire generation of women and people of color, who represent 70 percent of our country but still feel marginalized and underrepresented, counting on us. This group continues to look to Uncle Nearest as proof that anything is possible. We will not let them down.” Read more.
