AAMU Introduces Two Signature Blends During Black-Tie Scholarship Gala 

During its 25th Annual Black-Tie Scholarship Gala, Alabama A&M University unveiled a new partnership with Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey. The introduction of two exclusive batches - “Rich Heritage” and “Bold Future” - commemorates the University’s sesquicentennial year with a taste that has its roots in a story infused with commonalities to AAMU’s history. 

An Alabama A&M 150th Anniversary sub-committee has worked closely with Uncle Nearest to create the unique legacy batches featuring the craftsmanship that has crowned Uncle Nearest the most-awarded bourbon globally.

Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, founded in 2017 by Fawn Weaver, is a Black-owned and woman-owned brand named after Nathan “Nearest” Green, the first known African American master distiller. Based in Shelbyville, Tennessee, the distillery is open to the public for tours and events, and Uncle Nearest products are sold in all 50 states and 12 countries.

Just 400 limited bottles will be offered exclusively to Alabama A&M University 150th Anniversary torch level donors – individuals who have contributed at least $1,500 to the 150th campaign.

Those interested in purchasing a bottle should submit an interest form at www.aamu.edu/unclenearest 

More on the Partnership 

Nathan ‘Nearest’ Green’s extraordinary whiskey-making skill spread from Nashville to Huntsville during the 1800s. The uncommon smoothness and character of his sugar maple charcoal process defined a distilled spirit unlike any other. A former slave, he soon became the premier master distiller of Tennessee whiskey around the same time that Dr. William Hooper Councill was creating a new place on a Hill in northern Alabama for formerly enslaved people to pursue education freely.