Late 2026 Update on Whiskey Bankruptcies, Lawsuits, Scandals

By Richard Thomas

Although I have covered certain breaking scandals, financial and acquisitions stories as they arose, I have not done a round-up and update on the ongoing and wider picture of the whiskey industry’s closures, bankruptcies and other court proceedings since May. Six months later and towards the end of 2026 seems the ideal time to catch up with the big picture, and we will start with what is the biggest story, but one whose most recent developments have gone overlooked in whiskey media.

Uncle Nearest Endgame Draws Near
Last year, the fast-growing Tennessee-based brand Uncle Nearest, named for the enslaved man who taught a young Jack Daniel how to make whiskey, defaulted on some of their loans. In the months that followed, Uncle Nearest was put into receivership by the courts; Uncle Nearest’s owners Fawn and Keith Weaver pointed the finger at their former CFO, alleged fraud and sued him (ex-CFO Michael Senzaki has yet to be criminally charged); Fawn Weaver dismissed reporting on the case as “hit jobs;” the Weavers were ousted from running Uncle Nearest by the receiver; and the receiver revealed the company was losing money and the Weavers had made some questionable choices in mingling assets from their other holdings with those of Uncle Nearest. One of those assets, a home bought by the Weaver’s in Martha’s Vineyard, was sold by the receiver earlier this year.

The receiver, Philip Young, is moving to arrange a buyer for Uncle Nearest, with the intent to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy once that deal is made. That would allow the new owner to acquire the assets but shed what  liabilities remain after the sale. Weaver asked the court to block the sale in mid-October, pending her own appeal of the receivership. Her request for an injunction was denied at the end of October.

Concurrent to this is news that the restaurant, bar and events venue at Uncle Nearest’s property in Shelbyville, Tennessee is bankrupt. The company running those establishments, Humble Baron, is owned solely by Keith Weaver. In June, Humble Baron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, stating $6.1 million in debt. The judge demurred, putting Humble Baron in Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which requires trustee oversight. It has also come out that Keith Weaver made almost $75,000 in cash transfers to himself from Humble Baron’s coffers after he had filed for bankruptcy in June, which he was not allowed to do. This plus another $66,000 was ordered to be repaid to Uncle Nearest, which Weaver to date has not. During his testimony on the subject in September, he invoked the Fifth Amendment. The trustee is now moving to liquidate Humble Baron.

Uncle Nearest does not actually operate a distillery in Shelbyville. The property there is really a tourist destination and events center, offering a small museum, a Tennessee walking horse farm; a bar billed as the world’s longest continuous bar top in the world; and a restaurant. Although there is a stillhouse, the property lacks all of the other associated infrastructure and equipment associated with producing whiskey. Ergo, the main and actual business that has ever gone on there has been Humble Baron’s, and Humble Baron and Uncle Nearest are intimately intertwined. As the trustee has more time to examine Humble Baron’s books, more will come out about Uncle Nearest as well.

Wes Henderson Called Out For Sex Spying
In partnership with his father Lincoln, Wes Henderson founded Angel’s Envy a decade and a half ago. The company was most notable for popularizing the practice of secondary maturation, or used cask finishes, in the American bourbon industry. It was little used in the United States prior to the release of the first Angel’s Envy bourbon. Lincoln Henderson later passed away, and Wes sold the company to Campari. He went on to acquire the Kentucky Castle Hotel and start a new whiskey brand, True Story, with bold ambitions to combine the hotel and the whiskey brand into a distillery and hospitality complex.

In a lawsuit filed in June, members of Henderson’s extended family alleged that he had a network of hidden cameras installed into a holiday house he owned and granted them the use of and had filmed them without their consent. In SD cards found in the cameras and through follow-up investigations at the homes of other relatives, they further allege that Henderson had filmed himself, other relatives and guests at the Kentucky Castle without their consent, including in states of undress and engaging in sex acts.

News about the lawsuit broke in early October. Henderson has since stepped down as the CEO of his new company, replaced by one of his sons. He is under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, but curiously not as of yet by Woodford County (where the Kentucky Castle is located), as well as stepping down as the Deputy Coroner of Oldham County (his hometown area). Furthermore, Henderson’s wife is a franchisee and the owner of four Burn Bootcamp gyms in the Louisville area; management of those have been taken over by the corporation, pending searches for more hidden cameras.

MB Roland Up For Sale
Western Kentucky’s first craft distillery, MB Roland, will be put up for auction in December.

Sazerac Announces Investment Plan For New Acquisitions
Last week, Sazerac announced plans to invest $600 million in four of its Kentucky distilleries, even as the Commonwealth of Kentucky has approved $5.6 million in tax incentives for the proposed expansions. Almost the entire amount, some $557 million, is to be directed at Garrard County Distilling, which Sazerac acquired through foreclosure proceedings at the end of the summer. Garrard County Distilling, which bankrupted, was sued and closed less than a year after opening, is how this news ties into the themes covered here.

Although Buffalo Trace Distillery only just recently completed a decade-long, $1.2 billion expansion program, Sazerac also intends to invest a further $29.4 million, principally into a craft bottling plant for the company’s crown jewel.

In Owensboro (located approximately an hour west of Louisville), Sazerac intends to invest $17.5 million into the Glenmore Distillery, which they have used as a bottling plant since its purchase in 2009. Finally, another $2.1 million is to be spent on improving/expanding Sazerac’s Kentucky-based cooperage.

Bardstown Bourbon Company Still Tied Up in Whistleblower, Discrimination and Defamation Litigation
In February 2026, the human resources executive for Bardstown Bourbon Company’s (BBCo) parent company Lofted Spirits, Syliva Sanders, sued for gender discrimination and retaliatory termination, alleging that she was sacked after she brought gender discrimination and harassment issues before company executives. In later filings, Sanders also alleged the company falsified some of its health and safety compliance documents. She was joined in May 2026 by a gender discrimination suit filed by former bottling plant worker Sandra Stone. Herb Heneman, the former BBCo marketing chief, has filed a counter-suit against Sanders, alleging defamation. All of these lawsuits are active and pending.

Peter Marino, the president of Lofted Spirits, resigned in June 2026. His successor has yet to be named.