Tasting notes

nose

Eucalyptus and mint up front, then caramel, vanilla, honey, pear and green apple, with cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh hay and a buttery pie-crust note

palate

Oily, with rye grain, honey and pear meeting roasted nuts, vanilla and toffee, then caraway, licorice, clove and leathery oak; it stays dry and the heat climbs quickly

finish

Moderate in length and oily, with rye spice, vanilla cream, eucalyptus and green grape holding on before roasted oak, leather and caraway dry it out, leaving a light warmth along the sides of the tongue

Mash bill

100% rye. Rye does not grow well in Tennessee, so Uncle Nearest bought this whiskey from outside the state; it was distilled in British Columbia. The barrels started in 2017 as an experiment to see whether an all-rye recipe could be made soft on the palate without losing flavor.

Why it's craft

Uncle Nearest did not distill this whiskey: it is all-rye spirit distilled in British Columbia by a producer the company does not name, aged at least four years in new American oak in New York. The barrels began in 2017 as a test of whether a 100% rye recipe could stay soft-textured while keeping its flavor; each bottle comes from one barrel and is sold only at Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville. Since August 2025 the company has been run by a federal court-appointed receiver, who as of October 2026 was negotiating a sale of its assets.