Full Review

Uncle Nearest

Uncle Nearest
11 Year 1820 Premium Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey Barrel No. US-53

Category: Tennessee Whiskey

Date Tasted:
Country: USA
Alcohol: 55.1%
Invests in BIPOC and female owned spirit brands
95 Points
Gold Medal
Exceptional
$120

Uncle Nearest
11 Year 1820 Premium Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey Barrel No. US-53

Category: Tennessee Whiskey

Date Tasted:
Country: USA
Alcohol: 55.1%
Golden amber color. Aromas of fine black tea, cigars, vanilla bean, lily, and speculoos cookies with a round, dryish medium-to-full body and a warming, layered, very long graham cracker crust, spice cake, chess pie, and pecan praline finish. A round, somewhat floral Tennessee Whiskey with luxurious vanilla flavor.

Tasting Info

Spirits Glass Style: Rich, Spicy & Complex
Aroma Aroma: fine black tea, cigars, vanilla bean, lily, and speculoos cookies
Taste Flavor: graham cracker crust, spice cake, chess pie, and pecan praline
Smoothness Smoothness: Warming
Enjoy Enjoy: in cocktails, neat, on the rocks, with cigars and with drops of water
Cocktail Cocktails: Sazerac, Old Fashioned, Manhattan
Bottom Line Bottom Line: A round, somewhat floral Tennessee Whiskey with luxurious vanilla flavor.

The Producer

Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey

The Producer
3125 HWY 231
Shelbyville, TN 37160
USA

Their Portfolio

94 Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Tennessee Whiskey 50% (USA) $59.00.
95 Uncle Nearest 1884 Premium Small Batch Tennessee Whiskey 46.5% (USA) $49.00.
97 Uncle Nearest Master Blend Edition Premium Whiskey Blend No. 002 57.5% (USA) $149.00.
95 Uncle Nearest 11 Year 1820 Premium Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey Barrel No. US-53 55.1% (USA) $120.00.
95 Uncle Nearest 11 Year 1820 Premium Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey Barrel No. US-53 55.1% (USA) $120.00.
94 Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Aged Tennessee Whiskey 50% (USA) $59.00.
88 Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Tennessee Whiskey 46.5% (USA) $49.00.
96 Uncle Nearest Master Blend Edition Premium Tennessee Whiskey 55.5% (USA) $149.00.
89 Uncle Nearest 1856 Tennessee Whiskey 50% (USA) $59.00.
89 Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Tennessee Whiskey 46.5% (USA) $49.00.
94 Uncle Nearest Master Whiskey Blend Edition Tennessee Whiskey Blend No. 017 60.5% (USA) $149.00.
93 Uncle Nearest Straight Rye Whiskey 50% (USA) $39.00.
93 Uncle Nearest Uncut & Unfiltered Straight Rye Whiskey Blend No. 001 59.8% (USA) $149.00.
94 Uncle Nearest Single Barrel No. 002 Rye Whiskey 59% (USA) $89.00.
93 Uncle Nearest Single Barrel No. 061 Tennessee Whiskey 60.5% (USA) $79.00.
89 Uncle Nearest 1856 Tennessee Whiskey 50% (USA) $59.00.
89 Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Tennesee Whiskey 46.5% (USA) $49.00.
94 Uncle Nearest Master Whiskey Blend Edition Tennessee Whiskey Blend No. 017 60.5% (USA) $149.00.
93 Uncle Nearest Uncut & Unfiltered Straight Rye Whiskey Blend No. 001 59.8% (Canada) $149.00.
93 Uncle Nearest Straight Rye Whiskey 50% (Canada) $59.00.
94 Uncle Nearest Single Barrel No. 002 Rye Whiskey 59% (Canada) $89.00.
93 Uncle Nearest Single Barrel No. 061 Tennessee Whiskey 60.5% (USA) $79.00.

Tennessee Whiskey

Spirits Glass Glencairn Canadian Amber.jpg
Serve in a Glencairn Ganadian Whisky Glass
Tennessee Whisky must contain a minimum of 51% corn, be produced in Tennessee, be distilled at less than 80% ABV (160 proof), filtered through a bed of sugar maple charcoal, and be aged for a minimum of two years in new charred barrels.

The Taste: The taste descriptors for Tennessee whisky tend to parallel those of its Kentucky cousin. The distinction and the difference comes on the finish which is long, clean, and very, very smooth—a result of the final sugar maple charcoal filtration. Legally, Tennessee whiskeys could be sold as Bourbon; but the two Volunteer State distillers are proud enough of their “sipping whisky” to insist that the difference be known to all.

Tennessee whiskey is a first cousin of Bourbon, with virtually an identical history. The same sort of people used the same sort of grains and the same sort of production techniques to produce a style of whiskey that, remarkably, is noticeably different. The early whiskey distillers in Tennessee, for reasons that are lost in the mists of history, added a final step to their production process when they began filtering their whiskey through thick beds of sugar maple charcoal. This filtration removes some of the congeners (flavor elements) in the spirit and creates a smooth, mellow palate. The two remaining distillers in the state continue this tradition, which a distiller at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery once described as being "same church, different pew."