All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
In Person of Interest we talk to the people catching our eye right now about what they’re doing, eating, reading, and loving. Next up is Fawn Weaver, cofounder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey.
Fawn Weaver is in the legacy-cementing business. The best-selling author, CEO, and now diligent student of French is best known as the cofounder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey. The spirits brand is rooted in the story of Nathan “Nearest” Green, the formerly enslaved whiskey distiller who taught Jack Daniel the craft. Since founding the company in 2017, Weaver has grown the brand’s portfolio to include seven varieties of whiskey and won countless awards. And now Weaver is setting her sights on Europe: Her company recently bought the largest Grande Champagne vineyard in Cognac. We caught up with her between language lessons to chat about this recent endeavor, her newest book, Love & Whiskey, and more.
You’ve got a lot going on these days. Let’s talk about some of the things you do to center yourself. I read that you and your husband have a standing daily coffee date: Weaver coffee hour.
Which is now Weaver dinner. With the cognac company coming online and traveling back and forth to France, I have French lessons in the morning. I have a playlist I listen to every day while I’m getting dressed, whenever I’m in the car. I’m counting in French when lifting weights. Yesterday I watched Lupin. I have the language around me all day. So now we get together for dinner. It’s incredibly grounding for our relationship.
What does this new Weaver ritual look like?
We always start with Uncle Nearest neat. We’re going back to work, so cocktails aren’t how we’re trying to start dinner. We’re literally just taking a break in our workday. We go through phases of what we’re drinking. Right now I’ve been on an 1884 kick. But Keith’s been stuck on our single-barrel whiskey ever since it came out.
How has your approach to Uncle Nearest influenced your endeavor in cognac?
What we’ve done with Tennessee whiskey and bourbon is precisely what we are doing with cognac. Similar to Uncle Nearest, the history of our cognac house goes way back—in this case to the 17th century. This isn’t Uncle Nearest part two, though. It is uniquely Franco-American. Cognac is a spirit of great heritage and pride. The research for our cognac house has been costly. At the latest count, it’s been more than $300,000, with over a year of researchers going back and forth between France and different parts of America to fully uncover everything there was to know about America’s obsession with cognac—when that began and why. Most people have no idea why so many Americans drink it, including the largest cognac houses. In terms of innovation, we will be doing nothing new. Cognac is perfect when made right.
Legacy is something you talk about a lot. How has this drive to understand it more fully led you to your new book, Love & Whiskey?
I’ve spent the past seven and a half years researching Nearest Green. Thirty researchers and historians came together to help me tell this story. As much as this book is a historical account
of Nearest and Jack, their families, and the town of Lynchburg, Tennessee, it’s also about my discovery of the story, why I’m so passionate about it, and how doing the work of this book gave me hope. My book is what would happen if Julie & Julia and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks had a baby.
