Uncle Nearest receiver Phillip G. Young Jr. wants to seal a report on the company’s quarterly performance,
according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
As
AFROTECH™ previously told you, the award-winning whiskey brand owned by married couple Fawn and Keith Weaver went under receivership in August 2025 as a result of claims from lender Farm Credit Mid-America that the venture had defaulted on more than $108 million in loans.
The Weavers have pointed to Uncle Nearest’s former chief financial officer, Mike Senzaki, claiming he inflated the company’s whiskey barrel inventory, among other claims of mishandling funds,
according to a another article from
AFROTECH™.Young now oversees Uncle Nearest’s assets as its receiver, including a distillery in Shelbyville, TN, as well as
real estate holdings,
intellectual property, affiliated ventures, and related entities.
In November 2025, Uncle Nearest was “moving toward a potential permanent disposition of the defendant’s assets,” per a separate Lexington Herald-Leader article. In fact, Young is working with investment bank Arlington Capital Advisors and is considering refinancing Farm Credit’s loans and/or marketing “substantially all assets of the debtors,” which could include the Tennessee distillery.
In a Jan. 6, 2026, filing, Young submitted a report on the company’s finances and potential litigation and requested that U.S. District Judge Charles E. Atchley seal that information, notes the Lexington Herald-Leader. The filing included the second quarterly report, which Young claims could “chill the receiver’s efforts to seek a refinancing of the debt and/or his efforts to sell the assets of the company.”
“While the receiver wishes to be candid with the court and the parties to the litigation regarding the progress of all aspects of the receivership, that degree of candor does not extend to competitors, potential investors or the public at large. Disclosure of a substantial amount of information contained in the report could threaten this receivership’s goals and the value of the company,” the filing read, according to Lexington Herald-Leader.
The Weavers previously mentioned feeling “blindsided” by the creditor’s request to place the business in a receivership. In a motion filed ahead of Christmas 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, they requested that the receivership be terminated so they can regain control of the business, as AFROTECH™ previously told you. They also claim that the receivership’s impact on the company has brought a decline in sales, decreased distributor confidence, and affected retailer commitments.
