Brady Flanigan, Editor
The headlines can change, finally. The papers came down on Aug. 22. Uncle Nearest doesn’t just have a custodian on the horizon anymore. It has one in the house.
Judge Charles Atchley signed an order making Nashville attorney Phillip G. Young Jr. the court-appointed receiver of Uncle Nearest Inc., Nearest Green Distillery, and Uncle Nearest Real Estate Holdings. Young’s a bankruptcy man by trade. He’s somebody used to spreadsheets with negative signs. He’s now in charge of the distillery grounds on Highway 231, the Eady Road property, the bank accounts, the trademarks, the side projects, and the right to sell any or all of it if Farm Credit Mid-America wants its money back.
The Brand on a Leash
Fawn and Keith Weaver still get to smile for the cameras. The order allows them to market the whiskey “subject to the Receiver’s supervision.” Which means they can keep pushing the story of Nearest Green—the freedman master distiller who lent his name to their bottles—but the leash runs back to Young’s office. He holds the keys, the passwords, and the contracts. They hold the Instagram handle.
The Weavers once argued removing them would kill the brand. Now the court is testing the experiment: can a heritage whiskey be separated from its mythmaker?
From Heritage to Housekeeping
Receiverships aren’t built for reconciliation. They’re built for collection. Young has authority to seize mail, freeze accounts, redirect payments, haul vendors into court, and liquidate property. He’ll file his first quarterly report Oct. 1, 2025, a document likely drier than any press release but more determinative of the company’s future. His fees—and those of any lawyers or accountants he hires—will be drawn from Uncle Nearest’s assets. If that isn’t enough, Farm Credit pays the bill. Either way, the lender is in the room.
A Whiskey in Custody
The Aug. 14 ruling said Uncle Nearest was insolvent or close enough. The Aug. 22 order made it official: the brand is in custody. Heritage stories don’t dissolve overnight, but they do get repossessed. The court now owns the narrative, one quarterly report at a time.
The Weavers may keep pouring the whiskey, but somebody else is holding the glass.