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Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend Review [In Depth]

Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend

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by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
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Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend Details

Distillery: Uncle Nearest

Type & Region: Tennessee Whiskey, Tennessee, USA

Alcohol: 60.85%

Composition: Unknown

Aged: 7 years

Color: 1.3/2.0 on the color scale (russet, muscat)

Price: $140

From the company website:

This limited edition 777 Anniversary Blend – The Lost Chapter is a 7-year-old barrel strength whiskey between 110-120 proof, hand-selected by Victoria Eady Butler, 5th generation Nearest Green descendant and 4-time Master Blender of the Year. This rare bottling represents the pinnacle of Tennessee whiskey artistry. The palate unfolds with bittersweet chocolate, black pepper, tobacco, dried orange peel, and vanilla. The finish is long and smooth, leaving a lasting impression of baking spices and caramel.

Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend overview

It’s 2024 and Uncle Nearest has been in business for 7 years! To commemorate the occasion, Uncle Nearest has blended some limited small batches.
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The 777 refers to the 7 year anniversary of Uncle Nearest, the 7 year old Tennessee whiskey (aka bourbon), and the 7000 bottles released, across multiple batches.
I don’t have much more to say than that, so let’s taste if this is amazing stuff in this Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend Batch 7 review.
Thank you to Uncle Nearest for providing this sample. All opinions are still my own.
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As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.

Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend smell

I initially get brown sugar, roasted oak, cinnamon, vanilla, fresh cherry, fennel, baked red apple, nutmeg, peach and some moderate heat pokes from time to time. Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend is primarily a dark, roasty, and spicy whiskey with fruitiness behind the oak and spice.
It’s dark, bold, and fragrant, but there’s not much low end fullness or nuance.
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After swirling and 15 minutes of rest, I smell brown sugar, roasted oak, vanilla, roasted coffee, cinnamon, dried apricot and baked red apple peel, caramel nougat, herbal fennel, and a little bit of toasted grain. The heat still has some kick too.
Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend has slightly richer dark sweetness and oakiness that balances out the still very forward oak and spice. Unfortunately, it still doesn’t have much nuance, complexity, or roundness.
It’s definitely bold, but it doesn’t wield that boldness that well. It’s powerful and bold, but clumsy and not refined.
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Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend taste and aftertaste

The flavors start with caramel, a lot of roasted oak, cinnamon, vanilla, dried red apple coated in cinnamon, orange peel, more toasted oak, and a little bit of toasted biscuit. Like the scents, Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend again leans in hard on the oak, spice, and overall toastiness.
It’s not quite overoaked, but I personally think that it’s too oaky. I actually had the same comment with their Uncle Nearest Single Barrel Barrel Strength Tennessee Whiskey.
So far, this is a bold, rich, and oily whiskey, but not a nuanced and complex one. It’s more of a blunt hammer than anything else.
With “chewing”, I get caramel, roasted oak, nougat, cinnamon, vanilla, dried red apple peel, toasted grain, oak varnish, orange peel, and a little bit of earthiness.
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Learn more about Uncle Nearest Single Barrel Whiskey
Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend is sweet with a lot of oak and baked apple doused in oak spices, with an oily and viscous mouthfeel. There’s just so much oak…to the point that it’s not that far from being overoaked.
The finish leaves caramel, roasted oak, more roasted, cinnamon, toasted grain, and dried red apple peel with lingering oakiness and toastiness.
As much as I want to adore this, it feels so bluntly straightforward. There’s boldness but not much control over it yet. It’s too woody and spicy for its own good, and it comes at the expense of everything else. There’s not much nuance, complexity, or maturity. Sure it’s 7 years old, so the number is fairly mature, but the maturity of the whiskey doesn’t fully manifest itself.
And for an Uncle Nearest limited release, it feels so underwhelming. It’s still a flavorful and solid experience, but it’s not what I consider to be great or memorable.
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I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too. Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.
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Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend Rating

Mid shelf+
I’m disappointed with Uncle Nearest 777 Anniversary Blend. It’s so straightforward and simple, leaning heavy into the oak and spice. Unfortunately, it’s not the type of amazing and mature oak in Jacob’s Well Clermont 17 Year that still offers a lot of dense sweetness and fruitiness to offset it. Clermont is well-rounded, mature, and developed…and Uncle Nearest is far from that.
I’m rating it “Mid Shelf+” because it still has bold sweetness and some fruitiness that I mostly enjoy. Plus, there’s nothing off or bad about it. The lack of balance and nuance / layers just prevent this from being anything more than borderline “Mid Shelf”. I had many of the same comments for Uncle Nearest Single Barrel Whiskey, but I found that one to be better for me.
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The heavy handed oak has been a consistent problem with their homemade distillate, and I commented on that with Uncle Nearest 1856, Uncle Nearest Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey, and now 777 Anniversary Blend. Whatever is creating that oak…it isn’t doing it for me.
I always wonder how whiskeys are made in a way that I end up not enjoying that much. How do they extract more fruitiness and better control the oak? Obviously I have a lot of questions, but no true understanding of the production process to get those things done.
I want to love this so bad, but it’s just not that good…an unfortunate miss from Uncle Nearest. I can’t recommend this, and that hurts me to write.
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Alex author
Meet the Author: Alex

I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.

There are no sponsors, no media companies, and no nonsense. Support The Whiskey Shelf by Buying Me A Shot.
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BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)

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