Uncle Nearest: The Why

Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, the award-winning super premium whiskey from Tennessee and the first spirit brand in history to commemorate an African-American, announced the premiere of its first ever television campaign.

'The Why' launched today online and will air on TV nationally. The 60-second spot will debut following the Super Bowl during The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. CBS earlier announced they would present a special Sunday episode of the Stephen Colbert hosted show, who continues to be the most-watched late night host.

'The Why' is narrated by Emmy award-winning Westworld actor, Jeffrey Wright, from the home featured on the Uncle Nearest bottle. “Many don’t know the home on our bottle is a real place,” said Fawn Weaver, co-founder and chief executive of Uncle Nearest, Inc. “That home sits on a farm, in the hills above Lynchburg, Tennessee, and looks today just as it did when Nearest Green distilled his premium whiskey on the property more than 160 years ago.” Following two years of restoration, whiskey historians and connoisseurs will finally get a glance of the property where Tennessee Whiskey, as we know it today, was birthed.

The commercial follows the lives of Uncle Nearest team members as they criss cross the country, reviving the story of the first known African-American master distiller, in bars, restaurants and on streets nationwide. The unscripted commercial, is groundbreaking and utterly original, yet risky in an advertising world that often chooses formula over heart. Fawn reached out to Nashville-based director, David Poag, and Lamar Brothers lead producer, Steve Lamar, to create the campaign.