Just finished listening to Love & Whiskey by Fawn Weaver and I really liked it. It is a non-fiction book about the writer discovering that Jack Daniel learned to make wiskey from a slave called Nearest Green. Weaver then goes on a journey to discover more, ending up in Tennesee to meet the descendents of Jack and Nearest. Eventually, she buys a farm and opens up a distillery in honor of Uncle Nearest (as people called him in his day).
I really liked learning this forgotten history. And I am very intersted in making a journey to see the distillery eventually.
A slave, Nathan "Nearest" Green, originally taught Jack Daniels how to make whiskey and is now credited as their first master distiller. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_%22Nearest%22_Green
The whiskey maker backed away from a promise to acknowledge its debt to a black distiller — until Fawn Weaver swooped into town and took up the cause.
“Nearest Green’s existence had long been an open secret, but in 2016 Brown-Forman, the company that owns the Jack Daniel Distillery here, made international headlines with its decision to finally embrace Green’s legacy and significantly change its tours to emphasize his role.
It was jarring that arguably one of the most well-known brands in the world was created, in part, by a slave,” said Ms. Weaver, 40, an African-American real estate investor and author.
Determined to see the changes herself, she was soon on a plane from her home in Los Angeles to Nashville. But when she got to Lynchburg, she found no trace of Green. “I went on three tours of the distillery, and nothing, not a mention of him,” she said.
Rather than leave, Ms. Weaver dug in, determined to uncover more about Green and persuade Brown-Forman to follow through on its promise to recognize his role in creating America’s most famous whiskey.
The company’s decision to recognize its debt to a slave, first reported last year by The New York Times, is a momentous turn in the history of Southern foodways. Even as black innovators in Southern cooking and agriculture are beginning to get their due, the tale of American whiskey is still told as a whites-only affair, about Scots-Irish settlers who brought Old World distilling knowledge to the frontier states of Tennessee and Kentucky.
Green’s story changes all that by showing how enslaved people likely provided the brains as well as the brawn in what was an arduous, dangerous and highly technical operation..."
A slave, Nathan "Nearest" Green, originally taught Jack Daniels how to make whiskey and is now credited as their first master distiller. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_%22Nearest%22_Green
Discover how Uncle Nearest Whiskey, honoring Nearest Green, became a billion-dollar empire led by visionary Fawn Weaver. A story of resilience and innovation.
Discover the incredible journey of Fawn Weaver as she honors Nearest Green and builds Uncle Nearest Whiskey into a billion-dollar legacy. From a historic distillery experience to visionary expansions, see how this Black-owned brand is revolutionizing the spirits industry. Learn more about their commitment to future generations and lasting impact.
Formerly Enslaved Black Man Nearest Green Taught Jack Daniel Everything He Knew About Whiskey. Today, the Founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey Celebrates His Legacy.
Fawn Weaver, founder and CEO of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, launched the Nearest Green Legacy Scholarship Fund for Green's direct descend
