“Until now, only our family and a small community were aware of the impact our ancestor had on the Tennessee whiskey industry.” 
 
 Separately, a group Weaver helped pull together is releasing a Tennessee whiskey this month called Uncle Nearest 1856. When asked what would most honor Green, the first African-American master distiller on record in the United States, the descendants of his son, George Green – the one most known for helping his father in the whiskey business – said ensuring his legacy lived on a bottle of premium whiskey in perpetuity would be the ultimate tribute. Product Details: 
 
 Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Tennessee Whiskey: Aged 
 
 Price: $59.95 (*Oregon price, will vary by market) 
 
 Proof: 100 
 
 Honoring Green with Portland’s collaborative spirit, the Uncle Nearest team has enlisted top Portland artisans to create celebratory products inspired by the whiskey and its story for its July launch.
– Few lovers of Tennessee whiskey likely know they owe their favorite drink to a slave named Nearest Green. Jack Daniel's only recently started publicly recognizing Green's vital role in its history, according to a New York Times story that went viral last year. But Green's time as—per a press release—"the best whiskey maker the world never knew" is coming to an end, if one best-selling author who learned about Green in that Times story has her way. The AP reports Green started distilling whiskey for his owner, Dan Call, in the mid-1800s in Lynchburg. It was on Call's farm that Green taught Jack Daniel how to make Tennessee whiskey. Call later gave his distillery to Daniel, and the Green and Daniel families continued to work together for decades. This week, author Fawn Weaver launched the Nearest Green Foundation, the Tennessean reports. Among the projects planned by the foundation: a Tennessee whiskey museum, the Nearest Green Memorial Park, and a scholarship fund for Green's descendants. Weaver even bought the Call farm where Green and Daniel first started distilling whiskey together. She calls Green "the greatest teacher in the fine aft of distilling Tennessee whiskey." In addition to the activities of the foundation, Green is also finally getting his own whiskey. Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey launched in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday. Weaver says Green's descendants told her "putting his name on a bottle, letting people know what he did, would be great."