Uncle Nearest Founders Challenge Receivership With Emergency Motion For Fast-Tracked Hearing

The couple argues the measure isn't still needed with claims it is hurting the brand’s market, sales, and value.

The fight over the receivership of the Black-owned whiskey brand Uncle Nearest is heating up, as founders Fawn and Keith Weaver filed an emergency motion to expedite the evidentiary hearing, scheduled to determine whether the receivership is still needed.

The Moore County Observer reports the motion was filed Jan. 20 by Grant Sidney Inc., a private investment company, and the married couple, with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The couple argues the measure isn’t still needed, with claims it is hurting the brand’s market, sales, and value. In the growing case brought on by Farm Credit Mid-America, PCA, the Weavers seek an expedited, multi-day evidentiary hearing on the pending motion to reconsider the receivership.

The troubled whiskey brand’s owners claim the receivership was imposed too quickly, with little to no notice or time. There was also allegedly a lack of a full presentation on the full matters of the issue. Asking for a two-day hearing in the next two weeks, the Weavers argue that federal courts can change or terminate receiverships due to circumstantial changes and feel the time is now.

Things have been shaky for the Shelbyville-based brand since the company’s main lender, Farm Credit Mid-America, filed a federal lawsuit in July 2025 claiming Uncle Nearest and the couple defaulted on over $108 million in loans and breached loan terms.

The motion highlighted the brand’s growth prior to the receivership. According to The Spirits Business, throughout the first eight months of 2025, Uncle Nearest outperformed the US whiskey market overall, but then things took a turn. But after news of a receiver appointment, sales went from positive to an overall decline, underperforming by more than 18% in January 2026.

Fawn and Keith attribute the decline to operational disruptions, inventory shortages, and a lack of category-specific expertise in managing a premium whiskey brand under receivership. “The continued delay risks irreversible harm to the company’s brand and enterprise value,” the filing reads.

The Weavers also push that things are solid at Uncle Nearest and that a forced sale or liquidation-style process could undervalue the business. During the hearing, the founders want to show documentation and provide testimony in hopes that the court will make the right decision. They have waved flags of concern regarding the receivership and lawsuits. One concern is how quickly a Farm Credit officer approved roughly $67 million in loans more than 13 months before the company sought a receiver.

The Weavers also claim the company had not been in default, and after missing one payment in January 2024, Uncle Nearest gave $15 million to Farm Credit before the receivership.