Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey Review

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I recently received a full spread of Uncle Nearest bottles to review direct from the source. I was expecting the information concerning what kind of whiskey that was in the bottle to be right at my fingertips. A quick and easy review? Heck yeah! Unfortunately, things went off the rails right away.

I was thinking about covering the backstory of the brand. It’s fascinating to learn about, but it’s been retold a dozen+ times by other review websites. There’s even a book that Fawn Weaver (the founder of the Uncle Nearest brand) published in 2016 that anyone can read to learn the background of Nearest Green.

Instead, what I wanted to expand on was the whiskey inside of Uncle Nearest 1856.  On the historical side of things, 1856 is important because that was the year that Nearest Green perfected the filtering process for whiskey (of note, he did not invent the process, just perfected it).  What I’m trying to do is sort through each of their products to determine what it is they’re doing to have made the brand into a billion dollar company after only 7 years from its creation.  That fact alone is virtually unparalleled for a company that has sourced every drop of whiskey it’s ever bottled.

Where does Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey come from?

I thought I had a pretty good bead on where the whiskey came from that Uncle Nearest sourced. Dickel, right? Tennessee Distilling LTD? Maybe, but it’s not as simple as that. Fawn has gone on the record to say that she was sourcing whiskey from five different distilleries in Tennessee. Another source I read stated it was only four distilleries. Let’s explore the two theories I have as to what is inside of this bottle:

Theory 1: 1856 is a blend of multiple distillery’s whiskies

The back label on a bottle of Uncle Nearest 1856 does not say that it was distilled at the Nearest Green Distillery, just that it was bottled there. Diving deeper, we can see in this Breaking Bourbon article that Fawn mentions one of the five distilleries she sourced whiskey from was Corsair Distillery in Nashville. So we at least have confirmation of one.

But Corsair produces whiskey on small scale. To suggest they could be a large supplier of contract distilled whiskey to Uncle Nearest would be foolish. The one area of expertise I do think that Corsair has helped Uncle Nearest with is nailing down a custom mash bill that uses some malted corn. Whiskey made with this grain is rare to find. I believe Fawn Weaver sought them out because she found evidence that Nearest Green’s original whiskey recipe had malted corn in it. I don’t believe that Corsair is a source of barrels for the Uncle Nearest brand anymore.

I’m sure Cascade Hollow (makers of George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey) fit in here somewhere. Early reviews of Uncle Nearest 1820 had writers claiming the mash bill was 84/8/8 – which is the standard Dickel mash bill. We can assume some of that has probably made its way in this bottle (or at least early batches of it). The same goes for Tennessee Distilling LTD. In fact, my next theory heavily centers on them.

That leaves either one or two unknown sources for Uncle Nearest Whiskey. If I had to pick names out of thin air, I’d go with Prichard’s and maybe Old Glory Distilling Co. I’m not sure about Prichard’s because their production history has been so wishy-washy. Old Glory is a newcomer to the world of contract distilling, but they do have capacity on their 14-inch Vendome column still. Of course, if I’m stretching to find other distilleries, that might mean they are no longer used. Which makes my next theory even more likely.

Theory 2: 1856 has transitioned to a single source

It’s common among other Non-Distiller Producers (NDPs) that a whiskey they make with sourced barrels changes over time. Barrels run out, younger barrels are used because that’s all that’s left or a producer raises prices which necessitates its customers to look elsewhere. I think that’s what happened over time with Uncle Nearest 1856.

What probably started as a blend of whiskies is now being made at one single source. And after some investigation by my good friend Mike J., he seemed to have uncover the mystery. Here’s a screenshot from the TTB’s COLA website for submissions of new whiskey labels and the brand name they will use. This was taken from the Tennessee Distilling’s history of submissions:

What we can pull from this is that Uncle Nearest is transitioning to Tennessee Distilling LTD’s whiskey for their 1856 and 1884 line of products. If that hasn’t already occurred, it will be the case very soon after you read this.

How is Uncle Nearest 1856 made?

Fawn knew that she had to integrate sugar maple charcoal filtering into the brand somehow. After all, it’s the main part to the story of Nearest Green. But she didn’t want to mimic the exact process that Jack Daniel’s or George Dickel does. So she enlisted the brain of Sherrie Moore, the former Director of Whiskey Operations at Jack Daniel’s, to come up with ideas for the brand. Sherrie designed a custom triple filtering method for the whiskey to go through after it was done aging. In the link I posted earlier, Fawn described each filter as having an additional three filters inside of it. I believe that implies that all whiskey would pass through 9 charcoal filter chambers prior to being bottled. Damn!

Why filter a whiskey after it was done aging? The most obvious answer is that many of the barrels that Uncle Nearest sourced were distilled before the brand even existed. So if they have no control over how the process started, at least they can control how it ends. It may have been a way to make them all taste similar as well.

But the filtering process may have worked a little bit too well. I say this because at some point, someone inside of Uncle Nearest saw the results of the filtering and began to tinker with it to the point where they were able to completely strip the color from the whiskey. What they were left with was a whiskey that had aged in the barrel for a number of years, but now looked like it was fresh off the still. Most of the flavors remained, but the result was a little startling. Fawn’s team decided to bottle it up for a limited release. They called it Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Silver Whiskey.

It’s my opinion that the filtering process that Uncle Nearest whiskey goes through strips a significant amount of color. It definitely doesn’t create a clear whiskey on the first pass, but my speculation is that it’s enough that the product would need some coloring to be added back into it. If they do that, it could no longer be called a Bourbon or a Tennessee Whiskey. But if you look at the range of Uncle Nearest products, none of them except their new 777 Anniversary uses the regulated term Bourbon or Tennessee Whiskey. So technically it could have up to 2.5% additives by volume added to it.

I must stress that this is all speculation about the additives. The Uncle Nearest website has a banner that says their whiskies are “additive free” and Fawn has gone on the record to state that she’s anti-additive. But it does raise concerns when a products are just labeled as “whiskey” (Premium doesn’t mean anything either). I could go even further down the rabbit hole and say how odd it is that the one product that they do label a Tennessee Whiskey (which means that legally no additives can be added) is put into a completely opaque bottle where you can’t see the color. I think this has a lot to do with hiding the fact that the whiskey has a much more natural amber color than 1856, 1884 and Single Barrel does and Uncle Nearest doesn’t want you to see that discrepancy setting next to them on the shelf.

Now that I’ve talked your ear off about what’s in the bottle, let’s find out how it tastes. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.

Tasting Notes

Nose: The nose is fruit forward with scents of cherry Twizzlers, orange jelly and raisins. Sweetness comes from light brown sugar. I can detect a little bit of oak and also some faint, grainy notes of cornbread. There isn’t a lot of spice or other tannins, but it’s a pleasant nose nonetheless

Palate: I made a laundry list of flavors, but the key takeaway is that they all have a fairly light body. This would be a very easy drinker for people who aren’t familiar with high-proof whiskies. For fruit flavors, I can find cherries, oranges and lemons (the latter is especially dominant). For sweetness I found more light brown sugar and vanilla. Surprisingly, I get a little hint of wood varnish and some leather for tannins. There are some rye characteristics in each sip that are personified by cinnamon, clove, cough drops and generic floral flavors. It’s a good sip that has a lot to like – especially if you don’t want the big, heavy body of a non-filtered bourbon.

Finish: The finish has a few slightly bitter notes that pop up only at the end. The citrus turns a little bitter while the oak notes become dry. It doesn’t ruin the ending because there are still plenty of cherry, vanilla and crème brûlée notes.

Score: 7/10

For all the more I spoke about what type of whiskey this is, the bottom line is that it holds up surprisingly well against other 100 proof competitors. The main difference between Uncle Nearest 1856 and similarly priced competitors like EH Taylor Small Batch, Four Roses Single Barrel or Old Forester 1897 is that its light body is more approachable to a wider range of palates. This is why I think you’re seeing this available at more bars (along with 1884) – it’s appeal to a larger audience.

A thought came across my mind as I was writing the closing statements for this review where it dawned on me that Uncle Nearest 1856 is like the “Bulleit Bourbon” of Tennessee Whiskey. It’s got a light body that prioritizes fruity flavors over tannins and spice. If this sounds like what you like your whiskey to taste like, this is your bottle.

Final Thoughts

Uncle Nearest 1856 is a fine whiskey at a fair price point. It was designed to be more of a “Continental” whiskey that suits a wide array of tastes – and it does its job well. If you want something with more proof or that’s a bolder sip, move up to Uncle Nearest Single Barrel or the new 777 Anniversary.

Regardless of its provenance or the rigorous filtering process that it undergoes, 1856 is versatile enough to drink neat or mix in a cocktail. I’m glad I have a bottle on hand, but I probably won’t look to replace it anytime soon. If I’m going to reach for another Nearest product, it’s going to be Single Barrel or 777 Anniversary. If you’re an enthusiast with more than a few bottles under your belt, you’ll probably feel the same way too.