Receiver Phillip G. Young Jr. told the court Friday that no purchase agreement has been signed and talks continue, but he expects to soon finalize an agreement encompassing substantially all of Uncle Nearest's assets. Three prospective buyers are involved, though none were identified in the filing. Young also reported the company is insolvent.
Young said the plan is to use a Chapter 11 filing to carry out the sale, allowing a buyer to acquire the business free of current legal liabilities. The sale package includes the Nearest Green distillery in Shelbyville, Tennessee, which spans 432 acres, along with equipment tied to the whiskey business. He is also working with French agriculture regulators to sell company-owned vineyards in Cognac and intends to auction a related chateau.
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More than a year ago, the company's main lender filed suit citing defaults on loans exceeding $100 million and won a court order installing an external attorney to run the company during the proceedings. A federal judge appointed Young as receiver in August 2025, a step that Fawn Weaver and her husband, Keith Weaver, oppose. Their attorney, Curtis Johnson Jr., said Monday the Weavers have been excluded from the receiver's sale process and will challenge the transaction once it is announced.
As he pursues asset sales, Young said he is answering subpoenas from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The filing did not disclose what the government is examining. He is also conducting a forensic review of the company's finances and past transactions.
In March, a bankruptcy judge halted Fawn Weaver's bid to place Uncle Nearest under Chapter 11, which could have undermined Young's control. The brand has faced internal turmoil too: last year, the Weavers filed a civil suit against the former chief financial officer, alleging he falsified documents and sent inaccurate financial statements to the lender, Farm Credit Mid-America. All of this is playing out as the broader US whiskey market has cooled, with dozens of distillers filing for bankruptcy or shutting down.
Fawn and Keith Weaver built Uncle Nearest to honor Nathan "Nearest" Green, the formerly enslaved distiller who taught Jack Daniel. The label expanded rapidly and attracted prominent supporters, among them a $20 million investment from Jay-Z. Earlier this year, Fawn Weaver appeared as a judge on ABC's Shark Tank. If a Chapter 11 sale materializes, the key questions for anyone watching the spirits space are who ends up owning the distillery, what creditors recover, and how the new owner steers the brand in a tougher market for whiskey.
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