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Uncle Nearest is the brainchild of author-turned-entrepreneur Fawn Weaver, who built an entire brand around Nathan “Nearest” Green—the enslaved distiller who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. The company launched in 2017 with sourced stocks, opened its 270-acre Shelbyville campus in 2019 and has since ballooned into one of the premier whiskey-tourism locals not just in Tennessee, but the United States.
Throughout the last 8 years, the lineup of labels from Uncle Nearest has grown substantially. You’ll find my reviews of them here, here and here. But the one bottle I have not reviewed yet is one that sets near the bottom of the lineup (that’s because Nearest Green Tennessee Whiskey took that spot in 2024) – it’s 1884 Small Batch Whiskey.
Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey
Before I begin, I covered why I believe Uncle Nearest doesn’t use the terms bourbon or Tennessee Whiskey on most of their labels in this review. The long and short of it is because using the term “bourbon” would be counterintuitive to use because it takes away from their Tennessee heritage they’re trying to convey. But they also can’t use “Tennessee Whiskey” because not everything they’ve used in the blend might be considered a Tennessee Whiskey (probably because it wasn’t charcoal mellowed).
What we do know about this is label is that it’s 93 proof, charcoal-mellowed under the Lincoln County Process and blended from a batch of 25 to 35 barrels.
Early batches leaned heavily on 7-year Tennessee Whiskey that was probably distilled at Cascade Hollow (the Dickel vitamin note gives it away). As of Batch 030 (I don’t know what batch this is, but it’s probably 30+) and onward, Uncle Nearest says the whiskey is “100 percent distilled, aged, and bottled on-site,” with each batch now a 4-to-7-year blend. I have seen the Uncle Nearest Distillery Still House as of December 2024 and feel confident in my assessment that no distilling has started there.
So where is the juice coming from? It’s being made down the road at Tennessee Distilling LTC (aka Tennessee Distilling Group) in Columbia, TN. I don’t know why Uncle Nearest takes such a well-meaning brand and history and continues to trick customers as to the liquid’s origins. But TDG has such strict NDAs for non-distiller producers to say they sourced from them, it’s probably putting the Uncle Nearest team in between a rock and a hard place.
Why bother with another small-batch Tennessee whiskey when store shelves already groan under the weight of 90-proof bourbons? I struggled with that myself. I already have way too many weeknight sippers to really need another one. However, there is a subset of the whiskey-drinking population that prizes the cultural narrative of Uncle Nearest’s whiskey. I respect that and more importantly, I have witnessed it first hand. The Nearest Green Distillery gets a ridiculous amount of visitors each year and the visitors who come are the kind who know what the distillery stands for and what its story is. That’s very different from the people I see walking into, say, Buffalo Trace who are there because their second cousin’s Pee Paw told them to “get a bottle of that horsey bourbon because it’s the best.”
But maybe there is something more I can tell you about this bottle if it stands out in a tasting session. Thanks to Uncle Nearest who sent me this bottle to review. As always, I’m sampling it neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: The scent is “heavy” on the cornbread (I say this even though the nose is very light overall) with a bit of honey, caramel and vanilla custard to sweeten it up. There’s a bit of orange zest and generic stone fruit notes with a bit of clove, cinnamon and anise for depth. Nothing is offensive here, but it would be better if it was 10-15 proof points higher and not as filtered.
Palate: It seems clear from the first sip to the last that this no longer contains Dickel Tennessee Whiskey in it. Or if it does, it’s an extremely small amount. The mouthfeel is fuller than I expected and has notes of caramel and honey butter. A little dash of citrus marmalade and cherry are pleasant fruit notes to find. There is a bit of nougat, vanilla frosting and milk chocolate (a holdover from the Dickel days perhaps?) to keep me interested. Finally, there are some clues that this has younger bourbon in it because I am finding a couple grain-forward notes like cornbread and graham-crackers. Tannins are virtually non-existent, but that doesn’t make this a failure by any stretch. Just a light-tasting affair.
Finish: Medium-long and gently warming. Sweetness is present throughout with more honey/caramel, a wisp of tobacco leaf and some stone fruit. The cinnamon sticks out amongst the baking spices and grows a little bit in power. It’s a mostly pleasant finish that doesn’t last that long. Luckily, going back in for a couple more sips than usual at such a low proof won’t make you regret the next morning.
Score: 6/10
Uncle Nearest 1884 is a pleasant sipper with sweet undertones and a lack of heat. The days of flintstone-vitamin notes are largely gone, replaced by more fruit and better-integrated spice. At 93 proof the whiskey stays friendly and approachable to a lot of people. It might struggle to stand out in a cocktail that has a lot of similar traits (think: Old Fashioned) because it’s already sweet and fruity. But I imagine this trait will still appeal to a lot of people.
Criticisms? If you crave deep oak or strong flavors; look elsewhere. The aggressive filtering may create uniform color and taste but keeps bolder flavors at bay. Also, it’s not exactly the cheapest out of similarly spec’d competitors at around $45. If I had $45 in my pocket and needed a ~90 proof bottle, I’d probably pick Buffalo Trace. I’d like to see this bottle get to the $30 price point, but something tells me that Uncle Nearest’s recent legal and financial troubles won’t be solved by lowering the prices on their products. I don’t know, I could be wrong about that.
Final Thoughts
This is not a bottle for collectors or “proof whores.” Buy a bottle if you enjoy dessert-leaning Tennessee Whiskey (can I call it that?!), want to support a brand with an interesting origin story or need a reliable pour that will impress casuals. I think it’s just different enough to set it apart from others in the same price range which means that if you like this style, it’s not a bad bottle to keep around.