Washington's Reconstructed Distillery
Inside GW's Distillery
- Bubbling Vat
Washington was an innovative entrepreneur. Most people do not know that our first president had the largest whiskey distillery in America at the time. Washington was also the only founding father to commercially operate a distillery (Move over, Sam Adams!). His plantation manager, James Anderson, was a Scot who had been a distiller in both his homeland and in Virginia. He convinced Washington that this enterprise would make a profit. The production began in 1797. “The total manufacture of spirits increased each year, from 600 gallons in 1797, to almost 4500 gallons in 1798, to nearly 11,000 gallons in 1799. The profits from the Distillery ramped up accordingly, from 83 pounds to 334 pounds, to more than $1800 (or roughly 600 pounds) in 1799 (Dennis Pogue).“ This made the distillery one of the most successful economic components of Mount Vernon (MV Website). After the initial year’s success, the General had a larger distillery built which was 75-by-30 in size and utilized five stills. This structure has been reconstructed on its original foundation after extensive archaeological research (MV website). The positive achievement of this enterprise led Washington to write his nephew in October of 1799, “Two hundred gallons of Whiskey will be ready this day for your call, and the sooner it is taken the better, as the demand for this article (in these parts) is brisk.”
Washington’s spirits were made of 60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% malted barley. The distillery produced a great quantity of waste and this slop was fed to over 150 hogs and cattle penned at the site. “It was during the 1790s that whiskey supplanted rum as Americans’ distilled beverage of choice. As a result, literally thousands of distilleries were operating in the country by 1800. The great majority of these were small concerns, usually possessing only one still that produced a few hundred gallons of spirit. Furthermore, Washington’s whiskey was marketed relatively widely. Of the 57 individuals who purchased whiskey from our first president in 1799, 12 were Alexandria merchants who together purchased 4300 gallons. Then they resold the liquor in their various retail outlets (Dennis Pogue).”
The General’s death in December of 1799 halted the success of the distillery and within a decade the building fell into disrepair. No operating distillery from the eighteenth century exists in American today; however on my way home from Mount Vernon a few weeks ago I stopped by a Kentucky distillery. They used corn and malted barley, but added red winter wheat to their recipe (It has less of a “kick” that way!). “The mixture was put into huge fermentation vats made of old cypress planks. They propagate their own yeast for fermentation with cultures that can be traced back to the pre-Prohibition era (Maker’s Mark Website).” This was fascinating! In the huge vats the “recipe” was boiling away (The photo/video above was taken there). Unlike Washington, who shipped his whiskey out quickly, the Kentucky distillery ages their product in barrels which they rotate up and down within a huge barn-like structure to assure an unvarying taste. So they always have the same great bourbon, there is a tasting panel of 16 men and women (Do not run to apply for the job, I am sure over half of the 21 year-olds have already put in their resumes!). Each barrel is sampled 5 times during the maturation process. Maybe a couple other times as well. You know, just to be sure! (Maker’s Mark website).”
*Most of the information was taken from:
Shad, Wheat, and Rye (Whiskey): George Washington, Entrepreneur by Dennis J. Pogue.
Mount Vernon’s Website
Maker’s Mark Website
