Uncle Nearest Faces Deep Debt as Founder Seeks to End Receivership

In August a federal judge in Tennessee placed Uncle Nearest into receivership after the company defaulted on $108 million in loans. The receiver, Philip Young, wrote in a recent court filing that many records before 2024 were deleted, the company owed an additional $50 million to vendors and other creditors, it had not filed federal tax returns since 2018 and it was struggling to make payroll.

Founded in 2016 and named for a formerly enslaved man who distilled whiskey for Jack Daniel, Uncle Nearest grew rapidly under founder and CEO Fawn Weaver. Within a year the brand was selling in all 50 states, drew widespread investment and attracted a younger, more diverse audience; in 2023 Mrs.

Weaver said the company was worth $1.1 billion. Mr. Young said the business was losing about $1 million a month, had never had an independent audit and lacked a reliable list of investors.

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