Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend Tennessee Whiskey Review

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This is the first of many Uncle Nearest reviews that I have in the pipeline, so if you came here looking to get an in-depth backstory on the brand, that won’t happen with this one. Instead, I’ll be sprinkling the story in as I review the other bottles in the lineup.

Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend is the priciest bottle Uncle Nearest has released so far. It clocks in at a whopping $200 which is a lot of money for a 7-year-old, cask-strength whiskey. To put it into perspective, most cask-strength whiskies being sold on the market today are between $10-15 per year aged. Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend is almost $30 per year aged by comparison.

Speaking of the whiskey in this bottle, it’s labeled as a “Tennessee Whiskey.” So we can assume that it meets all of the legal requirements to be labeled as a bourbon with the only addition being it was charcoal filtered/mellowed (The Lincoln County Process) at some point. It also means it was made in Tennessee.

It was no secret that Uncle Nearest founder Fawn Weaver started her brand by sourcing barrels of Tennessee Whiskey that were sourced primarily from George Dickel. I say “primarily” because Fawn has been quoted as saying when she first started the brand, she was sourcing barrels from up to five different distilleries. But as the years have went on, the source of the barrels has become muddled. After much digging, I firmly believe that Uncle Nearest now sources – or perhaps I should say has their whiskey “contract distilled” – almost all of their whiskey from the Tennessee Distilling Group.

Uncle Nearest and the Tennessee Distilling Group

Try as I may, I do not have much information about the Tennessee Distilling Group. They are an uber-secretive distillery that operates much in the same way the Lawrenceburg Distillery in Indiana did in the years after Seagram’s folded. They seem to have fairly iron-clad Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) with their customers which is why we haven’t seen any information that ever confirms who their clients are. The best source of information on their operation is actually through job postings and LinkedIn. It’s here you can see that they seem to have positions that cover distilling on certain equipment to laboratory analysts to barrel-movers for their warehouses.

Tennessee Distilling Group will contract distill whatever a customer wants them to distill and will even barrel and mature the liquid for an extra fee. I imagine they have standardized Tennessee Whiskey recipes available to make immediately or the opportunity to make them from scratch.

But doesn’t Uncle Nearest have a new distillery set up with a brand new Vendome Column Still? Yes they do, but as of 2023, there wasn’t any signs it was actually operational yet. This means that the whiskey inside of any Uncle Nearest bottle will continue to be sourced for the for foreseeable future.

So how does this whiskey taste? Let’s find out. I am sampling this neat in a glencairn.

Tasting Notes

Nose: The nose starts off sweet with butterscotch pudding, table syrup and some nougat. I am detecting slightly nutty aromas and if I had to put my finger on it, I’d almost say it’s like a cashew butter. Fruits center around bananas and when it combines with vanilla, I’m imagine it to be like a banana pudding with Nilla Wafers in it. Tannins – or any barrel influence for that example – seem to be tamed down. I was expecting more for the proof point.

Palate: The nutty scent turns into toasted almonds on the tongue. It’s accompanied by the spice of cinnamon and red pepper flakes. Caramel sauce sweetness combines with a hint of light maple syrup to make sure it’s balanced. I am still finding overripe bananas and more vanilla, just like I did on the nose. Once again, I’m struggling to find much barrel influence impacting the liquid. I do seem to recognize this is a trait amongst whiskey that goes through the Lincoln County Process.

Finish: A sweet, somewhat oaky finish. There’s the barrel influence I was hoping for! The nutty flavor transforms yet again – this time to Marzipan – and caramel remains to add some lingering sweetness. Vanilla pudding also hangs around for a while. The finish is relatively simple, but still very nice.

Score: 7.6/10

Uncle Nearest’s first big Limited Time Offering is a very enjoyable pour that gives off lots of Jack Daniel’s vibes. Frankly, I think that’s awesome that they recreated something like that based on the actual story of Nearest Green himself. Each sip was sweet, smooth and had zero trace of youthfulness.

The downfalls of this whiskey is that the LCP seemed to stifle most barrel notes. What I mean by that is I found very little in the way of oak, leather or tobacco that shows its age and maturity. I realize this isn’t a dealbreaker for the majority of drinkers out there and may actually be more of a selling point. That’s perfect if you feel that way, but I know that most enthusiasts pay for more mature whiskies because they like that barrel influence.

The reason why I’m saying all of this is that if a whiskey like Jack Daniel’s, George Dickel or wherever these barrels were sourced from never fully tastes like the heavy, robust bourbons from Kentucky, then there is no need to age them as long. As a result, the distillate doesn’t need to be matured as long and costs should come down with it. This is typically why the standard lineup for Jack Daniel’s and George Dickel products are always so cheap (none really go over $60). The fact this bottle costs $200 seems egregious. This is a $100 bottle at best.

Final Thoughts

This section is really just going to reiterate everything I just said above. Uncle Nearest’s 777 Anniversary Blend is a great sipper with no off-notes and no youthful characteristics. It’s not as complex as an unfiltered whiskey would be at this age, but what it lacks for in depth, it makes up in its drinkability. Unless you’re really into the story and the history behind this brand, there’s no need to purchase this bottle. Their other products make a much more convincing argument for you to buy, anyway.

I do hope we continue to see this Tennessee Whiskey evolve into something special because up until now, I’ve never tasted a competitor so close to Jack Daniel’s before and that’s what the main selling point is for me and this brand going forward.