Uncle Nearest founder Fawn Weaver said the US distiller’s team “remains unshaken and unmoved” after a judge ordered a receiver be appointed at the whiskey maker.
On Thursday (14 August), a court in Tennessee accepted a request from US agri lender Farm Credit Mid-America to appoint a receiver.
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Earlier this month, Farm Credit Mid-America filed a complaint in Tennessee alleging default on loans and the misreporting of barrel counts.
The suit named Uncle Nearest, its Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville and the company’s co-founders – Fawn and husband Keith – as defendants.
In a post on Instagram yesterday, Ms Weaver said: “Don’t believe the fake news. Some reports claim I no longer own Uncle Nearest, that I’m not running it. Let me be clear. I built this company, I own this company, I run this company and my leadership team, who have all been with me for six to eight years, are right here, building alongside me.”
She added: “Our team remains unshaken and unmoved. If that ever changes, you’ll hear it directly from me and I know you will respond accordingly.”
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By GlobalDataFarm Credit Mid-America also alleges loans were improperly used to buy a property in Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
The Weavers had filed a response to the suit, alleging a former executive incorrectly reported Uncle Nearest’s barrel inventory, action about which they were unaware.
“Given the circumstances, the drastic and extraordinary remedy of receivership is both unwarranted and inappropriate,” the Weavers’ response read, according to a report from The Nashville Post earlier this month.
According to The New York Times, after the verdict, Ms Weaver said the lawsuit was “not only inaccurate” but “a flat-out lie used to smear my good reputation”.
Just Drinks has asked Uncle Nearest and Farm Credit Mid-America for further comment.
The Weavers founded Uncle Nearest in 2016. The company sells its whiskies across the US, as well as in around a dozen countries overseas.
The company’s 458-acre site is named Nearest Green after Jack Daniel’s first master distiller – the first known African-American master distiller and a figure Weaver is looking to bring to the fore of spirits history through Uncle Nearest.
In yesterday’s Instagram post, Ms Weaver called on drinkers to “keep clearing the shelves”, adding: “Every bottle you move tells our distributors and partners the same thing: we’ve built one of the strongest and most resilient brands in American history.”
