When one typically thinks of whiskey, they may not think of it being a “Black-owned business.”
But that’s exactly what Uncle Nearest has become.
In a press release announcement, it was revealed that the Tennessee-based premium spirit has made history by becoming the best-selling Black-owned and founded spirit brand of all time. The announcement confirms that the brand got this achievement courtesy of its nine straight quarters of triple-digit gains, which translates to nearly 1.5 million bottles of whiskey sold nationwide.
“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 analysis company, in the press release announcement. “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.”
The brand also has another added distinction, in addition to its amazing sales: it’s the first major American spirit brand to boast an all-female executive team.
AfroTech previously spoke with Fawn Weaver who revealed she founded Uncle Nearest Whiskey to honor the world’s first known African American master distiller, Nearest Green.
Currently, you can find Uncle Nearest in all 50 states and 12 countries with shipping available in 148 countries. It lives on the shelves of 21,000 stores, bars, restaurants, and at its 270-acre distillery in Shelbyville, TN.
This bit of success for her brand is nothing if not just desserts, that have been well-earned in the grand scheme of things.
