Stops on the “trail” are roughly grouped into two areas: Kentucky, where most of the distilleries are located; and Southwestern Pennsylvania and Western Maryland, where most of the museums and historical sites are grouped. Two Tennessee distilleries, as well as George Washington’s Mount Vernon distillery, are also included. New York City’s Fraunces Tavern, where Washington gave a farewell address to his officers, rounds out the list.
The sites aren’t ordered, but if you want to see the whole trail in one trip, you can group them into a roughly chronological order. Start in Washington, D.C., where you can see how whiskey was made in the 18th Century at Mount Vernon, and visit historic Gadsby’s Tavern in nearby Alexandria.
Head northwest to southwestern Pennsylvania, where Pittsburgh can serve as your home base as you explore Whiskey Rebellion-era homesteads and a preserved pre-Civil War village. Along the way, you can stop at the Allegany Museum in Cumberland, Maryland, home of an annual Whiskey Rebellion festival in June.
The final site is Fraunces Tavern in New York, which, because of its location, doesn’t fit conveniently onto an itinerary—which is just as well, since it has only a tenuous link with America’s whiskey history (besides the Washington connection and the fact that they now sell very expensive Buffalo Trace). It is, however, located in a beautiful 18th Century building, and it features a museum of Colonial and Revolution-era history, so it’s worth checking out if you’re in the area.
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