Weaver, Fawn
1976-present · Contribution: 2016-present
Entrepreneur & Whiskey Founder
Founded Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey in 2017 to honor Nathan “Nearest” Green, America's first known Black master distiller, building it into the best-selling Black-owned spirits brand in U.S. history
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- 1976
- Active since
- 2016
- Category
- Agriculture & Food
- Best known for
- Founded Uncle Nearest whiskeyBest-selling Black-owned spirits brandNearest Green Foundation
Impact on the world
Weaver recovered a buried history and turned it into the most successful Black-owned spirits brand ever, honoring an enslaved distiller by name. She built a billion-dollar business as an act of historical restoration.
Sources
- Whiskey University
3 more sources and references are available to members.
Related visionaries
Eady Butler, Victoria
Contemporary
Became the first known Black woman Master Blender in American whiskey, crafting Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey as the great-great-granddaughter of Nathan “Nearest” Green, the formerly enslaved man who taught Jack Daniel to distill
Green, Nathan 'Nearest'
c.1820-1890s
First known African American master distiller; taught the distilling craft to a young Jack Daniel, whose namesake whiskey brand became a global industry
McCoy, Carlton
c. 1985-present
Became, in 2013 at age 28, only the second African American to pass the Master Sommelier examination — widely regarded as the hardest professional exam in the world, with an 8-10% pass rate — and went on to become Napa Valley's first Black CEO