Motlow Community College wrapped women’s history month Tuesday by hosting Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey's Master Distiller Blender Victoria Eady Butler. 

 Butler of Lynchburg is the first African-American female master distiller in the spirits industry. Whiskey is in her blood as she is also the great-great granddaughter of Nathan “Nearest” Green, who worked alongside Jack Daniels and is considered the “Godfather of Tennessee Whiskey.”  

 “When Nearest Green and Jack Daniel nurtured their friendship, it was in the vein of love, honor, and respect. That is how our team at Uncle Nearest governs themselves every day,” Butler said. 

 "For me, it just shines a light on Nearest Green’s legacy,” she said. “And each time I get an opportunity to stand before people like you to share this story, it’s never been about me...it’s about Nearest Green’s legacy.” 

 Butler is a Motlow alumni. She worked for 31 years. But with plans to retire, she was approached by Uncle Nearest founder Fawn Weaver. Butler said growing up she always knew about the relationship between Daniel and Green, but she said she did not know he was the first African American master distiller.  

 Green, as an enslaved man, is believed to have perfected what is known as the Lincoln County Process, where whiskey is filtered through sugar maple charcoal. It's a process that is said to originally to have come from West Africa, carried across the Atlantic by enslaved individuals. 

 When Weaver asked what the descendants would like to see to ensure Nearest Green’s legacy is never forgotten, one of the cousins replied, according to Butler, that “we would like to see his name on a bottle.”  

 That was around 2016 and by 2017 Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey launched. “Whiskey was not on the agenda,” Butler said. “But here we are today being the fastest growing American spirits in history.”  

 Butler became master blender in 2019. She admits, “I have drank plenty of whiskey in my day, but I have never made it, right?...I was like, I’m going to do this, and I’m going to do this well. But I didn’t know how.”  

 Master blenders essentially decide which samples to blend. Since Uncle Nearest Whiskey is aged eight to 14 years, but only having been launched in 2017, they sourced their whiskey.  

“Our whiskey was sourced—still some of it is—and then we took that whiskey and we put our own touches on it. It goes through three filtration processes...including the LCP, which makes it a premium whiskey,” Butler explained.  

Butler recalled the first time she was asked to blend Uncle Nearest 1884 small batch, she had about 30 or more samples of whiskey before her. She said she was looking for a whiskey that had a soft, delicate finish—something that’s unconventional.  

By the end of those samples of barrel proof whiskeys, Butler said her jaw and mouth were numb. But her notes almost mirrored the professionals she was with. That July of 2019, Uncle Nearest’s 1884 small batch was put on the market.  

 “And right away, we started winning awards with it,” Butler said.  

 The Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey company has broken a lot of “glass ceilings,” according to Butler. The spirit's company is the only major whiskey brand that is owned and led by an African-American female, the first distillery that honors a black man, as well as the first all-female executive team. 

 “While we are the first, we should not be the last,” Butler said. “Go after what you want and do it with strength, and courage, and do it with grace.” 

 In an effort to do just that, one of the arms of the Nearest and Jack Initiative is the Nearest Green School of Distilling will be coming to Motlow College soon.  

 “So, I encourage any young woman that has a desire to get into the spirits industry, that there is no better time than now.”  

“When I think about where I started and where I am now, I am truly living my passion,” Butler said.