REGIONAL NEWS | Shelbyville — Nearest Green Distillery, which will soon celebrate it’s grand opening at its new home just outside Shelbyville, has introduced a new whiskey honoring Green’s living descendants. Uncle Nearest 1884 is a small batch whiskey made by a “creative committee” chaired by a Green family member. The first iteration was co-created by Nathan “Nearest” Green’s great-great granddaughter, Victoria Eady Butler.

The corn dominant mash bill whiskey is filtered through maple charcoal in the Lincoln County Process just like Nearest taught Jack Daniel to do back in the 1800s. The committee chose the first batch from 40 different blends created by Butler and the Nearest Green staff in a single day until they found the “perfect” one. This batch enjoys tasting note of layers of vanilla and toffee with a creamy corn finish.

Each barrel will be aged for a minimum of seven years and will be bottled at 93 proof, because that is the proof the whiskey would have been served at in the 1800s when Nearest made it. Why 1884? Because that is the last year, historians know that Nearest Green put his own whiskey in a barrel.

The whiskey is a partnership with the Green family, the distillery says. Butler, who collaborated on the first batch, oversees the Nearest Green Foundation, which seeks to award educational scholarships to Green descendants.

Uncle Nearest 1884 is now available on local shelves for around $50 a bottle. For more information, check out the Nearest Green Distillery website. •

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