The history of Nelson's Green Brier Distillery starts in the XIX century as young Charles Nelson and his family arrived penniless to the United States. Starting his adventure with the art of producing whiskey at the age of 17, Charles' own American dream started to come true. He opened a small grocery store with coffee, meat, and whiskey – and this is how his long path toward opening a distillery started. Finally, Charles moved to Greenbrier, Tennesee, where he bought his own distillery. Not only did he improve the economy by creating workplaces for the Greenbrierians, but he also made a name for Tennessee Whiskey. As the Prohibition was adopted in Tennessee, Nelson's Greenbrier Distillery had to discontinue its operation.

As Bill Nelson and his two sons, Andy and Charlie, arrived in Greenbrier on a hot summer 2006, they saw their granddad's warehouse. This is where their own adventure with the distillery began. With the use of Charles Nelson's original recipes and their own research, they managed to make Nelson's Greenbrier Distillery's American dream come true once again.