Fawn Weaver
Fawn Weaver
Author, CEO, and historian Fawn Weaver is why many people know the name and story behind Jack Daniel's original master distiller, Nathan "Uncle Nearest" Green. Born in 1976 in Pasadena, California, Fawn Evette Wilson was one of four daughters of Frank and Philomina "Bunny" Wilson. Her father, a former Motown songwriter, singer, and record producer, was chosen by Berry Gordy to open the Los Angeles division of Motown. Later, he became a Christian minister and author. At 15, Fawn moved away from home, initially staying with friends in the Jordan Downs housing projects in Watts before moving to four homeless shelters, including Covenant House in Hollywood.
Just before her 19th birthday, Weaver started her first company, FEW Entertainment, which specialized in PR and special event planning. She picked up two corporate clients, which allowed her company to grow. After making a connection in the restaurant business, Weaver went from minority owner to business manager. She longed to become an employee instead of an entrepreneur to "turn her phone off at night" and disconnect from work. However, each move she made as an employee in the hospitality industry led to more and more promotions and responsibilities.
During this journey, Weaver became a New York Times bestselling author. Initially, she started a blog to share her optimism about marriage, countering the negative portrayals often seen on TV and in the media. Happily married to Keith Weaver since 2003, she sought to enlighten others on the joys of marriage. She traveled to over 12 countries and 6 continents, interviewing women who had been happily married for over 20 years. Her online community grew to over 700,000 members. Her book "Happy Wives Club: One Woman's Worldwide Search for the Secrets of a Great Marriage" was published in 2014, followed by "The Argument-Free Marriage: 28 Days to Creating the Marriage You've Always Wanted with the Spouse You Already Have" in 2015.
In the summer of 2016, while on vacation in Singapore, Weaver read the New York Times article "Jack Daniel's Embraces a Secret Ingredient: Help from a Slave." The article revealed that Nearest Green, an enslaved man on a Tennessee farm, had taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. Weaver realized no prominent American brand traced its origins to an African American and was inspired to learn more.
As the founder and CEO of Grant Sidney, Inc., the parent company of Uncle Nearest, Weaver assembled a team of 20 historians, archaeologists, genealogists, and conservators, collecting documents and artifacts from six states. "I brought them all back to the 313-acre property where Jack Daniel and Nearest Green both lived, where Nearest Green was the only known master distiller for Distillery No. 7, where he taught Jack to make whiskey, and where Jack later created Jack Daniel Distillery," she says.
By the time Weaver and her team launched Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey in July 2017, they had collected over 10,000 thousands of original documents and artifacts related to Daniel and Green; she aimed to tell the most well-researched brand story in history. She also planned to donate most of these documents to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Weaver's initial vision was to share Green's story through a book or movie. However, after meeting and speaking with his descendants, she determined that the best way to honor him was with his own whiskey brand.
Weaver became the first African American woman to lead a major spirits brand. Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey quickly expanded, reaching all 50 states and 12 countries within two years. According to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, it was one of the top five fastest-growing U.S. whiskeys in volume growth between 2018 and 2019. Weaver established Uncle Nearest, Inc. and developed a 323-acre, $50 million distillery, which she dubbed "Malt Disney World," in Shelbyville, Tennessee. "We entered the market with sourced whiskey but began producing our own in 2017, and by 2022, every bit of whiskey in our bottles was our own," Weaver explains.
The first phase of the distillery opened to the public on September 5, 2019, with phases two and three following on June 19, 2021. "At the end of 2020, we celebrated our ninth consecutive quarter of triple-digit growth, and we are about to achieve that mark again this quarter, making it our 10th straight," she stated in 2021. The brand achieved a $1.1 billion valuation by 2024 and exceeded $100 million in annual revenue in 2022. Through the Nearest Green Foundation and the Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative, Weaver and her team support education and investment in minority entrepreneurs in the spirits industry, launching the Uncle Nearest Venture Fund in 2021. The brand has expanded globally, available in over 30,000 locations across 12 countries. In 2024, Fawn Weaver published "Love & Whiskey: The Remarkable True Story of Jack Daniel, His Master Distiller Nearest Green, and the Improbable Rise of Uncle Nearest".
Contributed by: Tiffany Talibah “Tee” Floyd, Chicago, Illinois
with support from M. J. (Michael) Jacobs, Tennessee Whiskey Section Editor, Smyrna, Tennessee
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