Inside the Uncle Nearest and Jack Daniels Partnership to Diversify the Spirits Industry

photo by Stacy Preston

Uncle Nearest’s Fawn Weaver and Jack Daniel’s Matt Blevins discuss initiative to advance the whiskey industry

Two leading Tennessee-based spirit companies, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey and Jack Daniel’s, have come together to tackle a common theme within the American whiskey scene: the lack of diversity. It’s no mystery that individuals of color are largely missing from the whiskey narrative, but with the launch of the two whiskey companies’ Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative, a $5 million investment, they’re seeking to increase inclusion in the industry. 

The story of the historical bond between former slave Nearest Green, who taught a young Jack Daniel how to make whiskey, is one that’s truly inspiring in the current divisive world landscape (more on that story here). “What’s most exciting is we’re taking action on something that has been part of our story and part of our history that we’ve been pretty vocal about the past several years. It’s bringing to light a friendship that existed in an unlikely period of time in the post-Civil War era between a black man and white man… So, it’s not just empty language. It’s a deep, substantive history brought to light and made into action,” says Jack Daniel’s Global Brand Director, Matt Blevins. 

Fawn Weaver

First, address the problem

The Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative launched to shine not just a spotlight, but a bright flood lamp, on the lack of diversity within the American whiskey scene, and finally do something about it. CEO of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, Fawn Weaver, says “It’s not that people in this industry don’t want to diversify. I sit with all these CEOs and heads of all these different departments and we all have the same problem. We’re not getting enough applications.” She continues, “We’ve never had an African American succeed in this business. So, who’s going to take a risk if you’re African American? That’s the reality of it. So many of us have failed in business, so few of us have succeeded. So, we’re sort of conditioned to not expect for an African American to do what I am doing right now.”

To Weaver’s point, people of color began applying to work at Uncle Nearest Whiskey once the company became on of the fastest-growing independent American whiskey brands in US history, and won a number of awards, including top medals in the NY International Spirits Competition. “Once these things started happening, then African Americans began applying.” The company has always been 50% women, so Weaver was able to at least create a diverse ratio between men and women. 

Furthermore, Weaver states another pertinent reason as to why persons of color never felt welcome in the whiskey world. “All of the distillery owners going back to 19th century are white men – the ones we know of, right? Of course, there were white women, but we don’t even know who they are. So, this generation and the last generation is somebody’ great-great-great-grandkid of the prior. So, that’s who we’re seeing in all the advertising campaigns and the whole story is built around this family legacy that’s been American whiskey. Well, if there are no African American legacies in this business, then we don’t even know that it’s an option for us,” she adds. 

Why whiskey?

And the second problem Weaver hopes the partnership will address is the “cool” factor within the young generation of people of color. “Our industry overall doesn’t look cool if it’s not somebody’s great-great-grandkid because we’ve never publicly seen an African American succeed in this industry. Why would we be attracted to an industry we don’t know our forefathers were in until now with Nearest?”

Therein resides another piece of the initiative puzzle in helping the new generation to see the American whiskey industry specifically as something that’s for them and unique. That’s where the one of the three facets of the Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative, the Nearest Green School of Distilling at Motlow State College in Tennessee, comes in. The curriculum for the school was approved at the end of 2019. It’s now sitting with the state board pending final approval. Once they receive accreditation, this will be the first Associates Degree ever offered in the distilling business. The program will be offered as early as fall 2021. 

“We have a Leadership Acceleration Program (LAP). We’ve already identified, offered, and might have even potentially hired a candidate in that program,” Blevins mentions. LAP will offer apprenticeships particularly to African Americans already in the whiskey industry, who are wanting to become a head distiller, head of maturation, or production manager. 

Planting the seeds for thriving businesses

The third arm of the initiative, the Business Incubation Program (BIP), is the cherry on top of the cake. Jack Daniel’s and its parent company, Brown-Forman, plus Uncle Nearest are loaning the best of their team members to completely different African American-led distilleries to help such companies thrive in the whiskey industry. “We’re essentially creating competitors because we will not own any piece of these businesses that we’re investing into. We’re investing our finances, resources, and times of our teams,” Weaver says. “Brown-Forman is a publicly traded company. How do you explain that to shareholders that you’re creating their competitors? That never happens. A program like that came into effect because we now could.” 

photo by Stacy Preston

Even though the companies won’t profit from the BIP, such a platform will ultimately help stir discussion and action to include diverse companies in the whiskey business. “If an African American owned brand such as mine was willing to come alongside to help build up another African American brand so they could have the same success as Uncle Nearest, but I will own no piece of it, then it’s something we can all rally around.” The Uncle Nearest brand is built on the pillars of love, honor and respect, cementing the legacy of Nearest Green for generations to come. “My pitch was never about money. So, every one of my investors are givers. They look at this and say, ‘Hopefully, we’re going to make some money down the road. We’re just going to follow Fawn’s vision and she’s about giving.’” 

The time is now, but it’s been in the works

Though the discussion for the Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative may appear to have been an answer to the demand for inclusion and diversity in the current social climate, it’s been a year in the making. “I’ve become a student even more in learning the history of Nearest from the work that Fawn has done. From the time she reached out to us, came to Lynchburg, and established the Nearest Green Distillery, I’ve been able to hear [Fawn] speak and learn from her and be inspired by her and the story of Jack and Nearest,” Blevins states. 

Weaver adds, “When you’re talking about the story of Nearest Green and Jack Daniel, with this unusual friendship and mentorship, I imagine what it must have been like for this white guy to walk through the square flanked by African American men all the time, because they were like family to him—what that sight must have been like in the 19th century and who would have hurled insults on him. You had this interesting friendship and bond that was created during the most racially divided time in our nation’s history. Now, to bring the names of those two people together to help solve it now is the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life hands down.”