Last November, Uncle Nearest named Victoria Eady Butler master blender – thought to be the first African-American person to hold the title.įounded by Ken Wyatt and Ron Zier, 44° North Vodka was designed to showcase Idaho agriculture and American craft distilling at its finest. The covered patio is also connected to Toppy’s, a bar named after the CEO’s own horse. Uncle Nearest opened its Nearest Green Distillery in Tennessee in September last year, which features the Welcome House, a tasting area with a custom-made horseshoe-shaped bar, and the Copper Skied Experience, which allows guests to watch the sun set from rocking chairs. Its whiskey is filtered through sugar maple charcoal, a process that was brought to Tennessee by enslaved people and a technique taught to Green. Uncle Nearest’s portfolio comprises a wide assortment of age-statement whiskeys, including an 11-year-old single barrel expression and seven-year-old small batch bottling. The brand is wholly owned by Uncle Nearest Inc, an all-minority-led company. This American whiskey brand was inspired by the first known African-American master distiller, Nathan ‘Nearest’ Green.
To date, the fund has raised US$549,220 of its US$1 million target. Du Nord Craft Spirits in turn set up its own Go Fund Me Page to support others in the area, called the Du Nord Riot Recovery Fund. A Go Fund Me Page was set up to raise money to help the distillery rebuild its warehouse, which was subject to several fires. The distillery, based in Minneapolis, US, creates a range of award-winning spirits including L’Etoile Du Nord Vodka, Fitzgerald Gin and Mixed Blood Blended Whiskey.ĭu Nord Craft Spirits has partnered with Tattersall Distilling and Brother Justus Whiskey Company to form All Hand MN, a collaborative effort to create hand sanitiser for those in need during the Covid-19 pandemic.Īt the end of May, Du Nord Craft Spirits’ warehouse was “severely damaged” during the Minneapolis protests in response to the death of African-American George Floyd. We intend to continue creating a more diverse selection of articles going forward, and will create additional round-ups of brands and businesses owned by people of colour from here on in.įounded in 2013, Du Nord Craft Spirits is owned by Chris Montana, former president of the American Craft Spirits Association, and his wife Shanelle Montana. The list of Black-owned spirits brands you will find on the following pages is by no means exhaustive – but a snapshot into some of the top-quality offerings out there. While we are not in a position to explain first-hand the multiple challenges that have affected the Black community for so long, what we can do is provide a global platform to support, elevate and highlight Black-owned spirits brands doing brilliant work across the industry. The anger at yet another Black life lost as the result of police brutality has amplified the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement on a global scale not seen before, and reiterated the need to create an actively anti-racist society. The issue of institutional racism was violently brought back into public consciousness following the death of African-American George Floyd, who died in police custody in May. In the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic, another pandemic has been rightly highlighted, one that has been a worldwide issue for hundreds of years: systematic racism. The Nearest Green Distillery in Tennessee, US In light of recent events, we’ve highlighted 10 brands worth checking out.
There are myriad Black-owned brands delivering a vast array of top-quality spirits that would make a fine addition to any at-home bar.
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