Billion-Dollar Whiskey Brand Uncle Nearest Faces $100 Million Loan Default Lawsuit

Uncle Nearest, the Black-owned whiskey brand founded in 2017 and celebrated for its rapid rise in the spirits industry, is facing a high-stakes legal battle over allegations of defaulting on loans totaling $100 million.

The Tennessee-based company is named after Nathan “Nearest” Green, a formerly enslaved man credited with teaching Jack Daniel how to distill whiskey. In the years since its launch, the brand has grown into a billion-dollar business and was named the fastest-growing whiskey brand in U.S. history just three years ago.

But in late July, Kentucky-based Farm Credit Mid-America filed a lawsuit accusing co-founders Fawn and Keith Weaver of halting payments on multiple loans and misrepresenting collateral to secure financing.

According to court documents obtained by WSMV, Farm Credit alleges the company initially borrowed $35 million in July 2022, later increasing that lan to $67 million, and separately received loans of $20 million and $15 million.

At the center of the dispute are more than 77,000 whiskey barrels used as collateral. Farm Credit claims Uncle Nearest overstated the value of those barrels by about $20 million in its borrowing base reports. The lender also alleges the company borrowed an additional $2 million to purchase property, but placed it under a separate LLC not tied to the brand, putting it beyond Farm Credit’s reach.

The Weavers have rejected the allegations, calling the 700-page filing “salacious and inaccurate.” In an Instagram post, Fawn Weaver appeared to downplay the lawsuit, writing, “Dang… you’ve got to be doing something really big for people to spend their energy writing hit pieces.”

In their legal response, the co-founders said Farm Credit agreed to pause loan payments following the firing of Uncle Nearest’s chief financial officer earlier this year. They argue that the lender was fully aware of and consented to the payment pause.

Farm Credit is seeking repayment of the loans with interest, the appointment of a court-ordered receiver to take control of the business, and access to the disputed collateral. The Weavers oppose the move. A judge has since issued a gag order, preventing either side from discussing the case publicly until it is resolved.