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Here’s a little country history for you: In the 1850s, young Jack Daniel began his career working for a preacher and distiller named Dan Call. Recognizing Jack’s potential, the preacher introduced him to Nathan “Nearest” Green, one of his enslaved workers responsible for the distillation process. The preacher encouraged Jack to absorb as much knowledge as possible from Nearest, whom he regarded as “the best whiskey maker that I know of.” Nearest imparted to Jack his technique of filtering whiskey through sugar maple charcoal, a method that would later become known as the Lincoln County Process. This pivotal innovation marked the inception of Tennessee whiskey. When Jack Daniel established his own distillery in 1866, the year following the abolition of slavery, he invited Uncle Nearest and two of his children to join him. Nearest Green became Jack Daniel’s first master distiller and is recognized as the first African American distiller on record. After being overlooked for over a century, Nearest Green’s legacy was finally acknowledged in 2017, when the Jack Daniel’s Distillery incorporated his story into its official tours and showcased it prominently in the Visitors Center. In 2019, the Nearest Green Distillery, owned and operated by Fawn Weaver, an African American woman, opened its doors and began producing Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey. Concurrently, the Nearest Green Foundation was founded to provide full scholarships for college and graduate school to all descendants of Nearest Green. The foundation is sustained through the sales of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey and the official biography of Jack Daniel. So, raise a glass of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey in honor of Nathan “Nearest” Green, the man who taught Jack Daniel the art of whiskey making