Much has been written, including in these pixels and pages, about Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, the spirits brand launched to draw attention to the story of Nathan “Uncle Nearest” Green, the first African American master distiller on record in the United States who legendarily taught a young man named Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. As they work to create their own whiskey and build a distillery in Shelbyville, the folks behind the Uncle Nearest brand have been selling bottles of whiskey purchased from a Middle Tennessee distillery and running it through their version of the “Lincoln County Process” of filtration through maple charcoal to mellow the product. Their Uncle Nearest 1856 has met with enough acclaim to encourage the company to dip its toes in the white-hot world of single barrel selections.
Under the label Uncle Nearest 1820 Premium Whiskey — named after the year that is the best guess of when Nathan Green was born — they have selected two barrels of 11-year-old whiskey from a Tennessee distillery. (OK, let’s stop kidding ourselves. There are only two distilleries in Tennessee that have been making any sort of volume of whiskey for more than 10 years, and Jack Daniels would probably not be the source of this juice. So it’s George Dickel.)
That’s not a bad thing, though because Diageo-owned Dickel has made some fantastic whiskey over the years, and their older products are quite sought after by spirits aficionados. However, their rare Dickel’s Barrel Select products retail for less than $75 per bottle, and the new Uncle Nearest 1820 sells for closer to $130, so how does it measure up?
For my personal evaluations, I’ve developed what I call “The Four Roses Test.” I’m a big fan of Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon, a delicious, readily available whiskey that is distilled and blended by talented experts and made in a large enough scale that I’ve never had any trouble sourcing it for more than $35 a bottle. It’s good enough to sip neat or on ice, but it’s also not so fancy and expensive that I wouldn’t mix a cocktail with it. You can pretty much always expect to find a bottle on my home bar, along with several other bottles that are higher or lower on the price scale.
So when a whiskey maker wants me to pay more than $35 a bottle, I ask myself, “Is it that much better than Four Roses?” I’m not strictly by the numbers with these comparisons; I’ll make allowances for scarcity, age and even a good marketing story when considering a purchase, so it’s not just a linear numerical scale. With that in mind, is Uncle Nearest 1820 worth as much as four bottles of Four Roses?
Well, they certainly get points for their story and their efforts to shine a light on the lost history of a man who might very well be a very important forgotten figure in the development of great brown liquor. I also admire the company’s efforts to support Green’s descendants through donating to scholarship funds. They’re also bringing jobs to Shelbyville with their new distillery and visitors center, so that’s all good. Eleven years in oak is pretty darned old for any whiskey, so it is a pretty novel product. As far as scarcity goes, the entire state of Tennessee received only two barrels; bottles are available at only a few select liquor stores in Nashville, including Frugal McDougal, Midtown Corkdorks, and Cool Springs Wines & Spirits in Middle Tennessee, if they still have any in stock.
There’s also a proof premium which is worth paying extra for. Four Roses Small Batch is bottled at 90 proof, while Uncle Nearest 1820 enters the barrel at 110 proof, because that is supposedly what Green thought was the best entry proof for whiskey. The two samples I received of Barrel Nos. TN-1 and TN-2 were bottled at 108.5 and 110.5 proof respectively, showing that individual barrels can go up or down in alcohol content during the aging process depending on the conditions of the rickhouse. The higher proof definitely allows more of the essence of the whiskey come through, although I did prefer my samples after adding a few drops of water.
TN-1 was my favorite of the two, full of baking spices on the nose and flavors of honey and citrus zest on the tongue. That citrus actually turned the finish a little acidic, almost like putting a penny in your mouth. Y’know, if you do stuff like that. A few drops of water really opened up this sample and dampened the tannic elements while making for a lovely mouthfeel. It was a winner. I’d drink it again.
TN-2 came in hot, thinner on the nose with lots more alcohol and a little pepper. The first sip was tongue-numbingly aggressive with almost a menthol element that reminded me of some of my favorite Weller products. I also detected a nutty aspect on the back of the flavors. Adding a little water made it much more complex, releasing more traditional whiskey notes of sweeter caramel and vanilla. It was a wild ride, but I don’t know if I’d buy the ticket to take it again.
Keeping in mind that my samples were just an ounce or two, I imagine your results might vary as you taste your way through an entire bottle. On the other hand, they also graciously sent them to me gratis, so I didn’t have to make a $130 investment, which equates to about 10 bucks for every two-finger pour. While I do give Uncle Nearest 1820 the credits mentioned above for high-proof premium, historical interest and scarcity, I don’t think I’d pay the fare for my own bottle. But if you can find it and choose to shell out the big bucks for a sip that supports the efforts of this budding distillery, I certainly won’t fault you. (Especially if you buy a bottle from Barrel TN-1 and invite me over to share it with you!)
