Nearest Green Distillery sits on US-231 in Shelbyville, Tennessee, about 45 minutes southeast of Nashville in the heart of Bedford County. This is the physical home of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, the brand that honors Nathan “Nearest” Green, the enslaved man who taught Jack Daniel how to distill whiskey using the Lincoln County Process. The distillery opened in 2019 as part of Fawn Weaver’s mission to give Green his rightful place in whiskey history after she discovered his story had been largely erased from the Jack Daniel’s narrative. The facility produces small-batch whiskey while serving as both a production space and a monument to Green’s legacy, making it one of the most historically significant new distilleries in Tennessee. Weaver, a New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur, spent years researching Green’s story and tracking down his descendants before launching Uncle Nearest as a brand in 2017. She worked with Victoria Eady Butler, Green’s great-great-granddaughter, who now serves as the company’s head of whiskey operations. The distillery itself was designed to reflect the agricultural heritage of the area, with the production facility housed in buildings that echo the barn architecture of Middle Tennessee. Master distiller Victoria Eady Butler oversees production using traditional methods that honor her ancestor’s techniques, including the sugar maple charcoal filtering process that Green perfected and passed down to Daniel. Visitors come here for more than just whiskey tasting—this is a place where American history gets rewritten in real time. The tours blend distillery operations with storytelling about Green’s life and his impact on Tennessee whiskey. You’ll see copper pot stills and traditional fermentation tanks, but you’ll also learn about the Lincoln County Process and how an enslaved man became the unsung father of Tennessee whiskey. The atmosphere is reverent but not stuffy, educational but not preachy. It’s whiskey tourism with substance and purpose.