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Interactive Talk & Tasting
Join master blender and innovator VICTORIA EADY BUTLER for a talk and tasting exploring the untold history of African American distillers and her groundbreaking work to bring diversity and innovation to the spirits industry.
Carrying on the Family Legacy with America’s Fastest-Growing Whiskey Brand
While VICTORIA EADY BUTLER may be a new face in the spirits world, whiskey is in her blood. Now the celebrated and multiple award-winning master blender of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey – the fasted growing whiskey brand in America – Butler is carrying on her family’s legacy first-hand. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Nearest Green, the brand’s namesake and the first known African American master distiller. In this riveting talk, she shares the astounding journey that led her to the top of her industry, and what it means to play a role in cementing her ancestor’s name in history.
Building a Brand with Impact in the Market and the Community
As the master blender for Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey and the director of the company’s nonprofit, the Uncle Nearest Foundation, VICTORIA EADY BUTLER has an unmatched perspective on how companies can build their brand by focusing on impact in the market as well as in the community. Butler shares her action-oriented insights in this engaging talk.
Fawn Weaver and Victoria Eady Butler named ‘Food & Wine’ Drinks Innovators of the Year
Uncle Nearest CEO FAWN WEAVER and master blender VICTORIA EADY BUTLER were named to Food & Wine’s list of Drinks Innovators of the Year for their work “carving Nearest Green, the world's first-known African American master distiller, into the Mount Rushmore of whiskey."
Known as the fastest-growing U.S. whiskey in history after surpassing a $1B valuation, "Weaver secured a staggering $225 million from over 160 individual investors, which has allowed her to retain control of the company and ensure its mission" (Boardroom). Weaver and Butler lead an all-female leadership team. Setting a standard of excellence, they are not only making delicious whiskey but changing the landscape of economic possibility. Their groundbreaking work in the spirits industry is breaking boundaries, smashing glass ceilings, and empowering historically underserved communities.
Watch Fawn Weaver in conversation with Black Enterprise >>
Watch Victoria Eady Butler in discussion with the American Distilling Institute >>
Victoria Eady Butler is carrying on the family legacy with America’s fastest-growing whiskey brand
Ensuring her great-great-grandfather Nathan “Nearest” Green’s legacy lives on, two-time and first woman Master Blender of the Year VICTORIA EADY BUTLER is the formidable master blender behind Uncle Nearest, Inc., the fastest-growing whiskey brand in U.S. history with 1.5M bottles sold. Butler is also the director of the nonprofit Nearest Green Foundation, another endeavor co-founded by Fawn Weaver established to spread Green's story and provide scholarships for any of Green's descendants to go to whatever school they wish to attend.
Watch Victoria Eady Butler in conversation with Whisky Magazine >>
Watch Victoria Eady Butler in the Uncle Nearest documentary >>
Master Blender Victoria Eady Butler never intended to go into spirits
History’s first-known Black female master whiskey blender VICTORIA EADY BUTLER was the first woman ever to be named Master Blender of the Year by Whisky Magazine in 2021, then won the award again in 2022. However, just a few years ago, Butler was considering retirement when CEO Fawn Weaver approached her to join Uncle Nearest, Inc., where she started as an administrator before her immense talent for blending came to light. Butler told Entrepreneur, “I just knew I wasn't going to fail. And thankfully out of all the products that were laid on the table for me to taste, sample and blend, I made the right choices.”
Watch Victoria Eady Butler in discussion with WhiskyJason >>
Victoria Eady Butler is a relatively new face in the spirits world, but whiskey is definitely in her blood. The great-great-granddaughter of Nearest Green, the first known African American master distiller, Butler is the Master Blender of the award-winning Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey. There she oversees the blending process of its core and Master Blend portfolios, along with the selection of all Single Barrels. In 2021, Victoria was named Master Blender of the Year three times, by Whisky Magazine, VinePair and The Spirits Business, followed by a second award by Whisky Magazine in 2022. She is the first person in history to receive this honor two years in a row. Butler also serves as a member of Uncle Nearest’s executive team and oversees the Nearest Green Foundation, a 501(s)(3) non-profit organization that provides scholarships to Nearest Green’s descendants, which is funded by the sales of Uncle Nearest whiskeys.
Butler blended the very first batch of 1884 Small Batch Whiskey, which launched in July 2019, and was appointed Master Blender in November 2019 after the immense success of the first two batches, which earned numerous awards including Double Gold medals at the China Wine & Spirits Awards and the Sommelier Challenge. Since then, Butler has taken many courses to hone her skills, including becoming an Executive Bourbon Steward through Stave & Thief Society in Louisville, KY, the first bourbon certification program recognized by the bourbon industry.
Prior to joining the Uncle Nearest team in March 2019, Butler worked as an Analytical Manager with the Regional Organized Crime Information Center in Nashville, which she joined upon graduating Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. Butler had just retired from a more than 31-year tenure when Fawn Weaver, Founder and CEO of Uncle Nearest, approached her about becoming involved in the Uncle Nearest brand. The opportunity to carry on her family legacy first-hand and to help to cement Nearest’s name in history was one that she couldn’t pass up.
Butler is a mother, grandmother and a Tennessee native. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family and volunteering with several non-profit organizations. She’s also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.
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