Full Review

Uncle Nearest

Uncle Nearest
Master Blend Edition Premium Tennessee Whiskey

Category: Tennessee Whiskey

Date Tasted:
Country: USA
Alcohol: 55.5%
Invests in BIPOC and female owned spirit brands
96 Points
Platinum Medal
Superlative
$149
2022 Best Tennessee Whiskey

Uncle Nearest
Master Blend Edition Premium Tennessee Whiskey

Category: Tennessee Whiskey

Date Tasted:
Country: USA
Alcohol: 55.5%
Golden amber color. Aromas and flavors of maple candies, polished leather and oak, vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, and roast sesame and cumin with a round, bright, dry medium-full body and a peppery, distinctive, very long finish with accents of maple, vanilla, and buttered corn, graham cracker, treacle and rooibos, butterscotch, and licorice. Simply delicious, this is dessert in a glass. The aromas and flavors transport you to a summer afternoon indulging at your favorite ice cream parlor.

Tasting Info

Spirits Glass Style: Spicy
Aroma Aroma: maple candies, polished leather and oak, vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, and roast sesame and cumin
Taste Flavor: Same as aromas with accents of maple, vanilla, and buttered corn, graham cracker, treacle and rooibos, butterscotch, and licorice
Smoothness Smoothness: Peppery
Finish Finish:
Enjoy Enjoy: Enjoy on its own
Bottom Line Bottom Line: Simply delicious, this is dessert in a glass. The aromas and flavors transport you to a summer afternoon indulging at your favorite ice cream parlor.

The Producer

Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey

The Producer
3125 HWY 231
Shelbyville, TN 37160
USA

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."