George Washington: America's First and Only Distilling President

by Margarett Waterbury
February 20, 2017

Happy President’s Day! For most, it’s an opportunity to reflect on the lives of the Founding Fathers. For those of us who love whiskey, it’s a chance to remember our nations’ first and only distiller president: George Washington.

Most history and/or whiskey buffs know that George Washington had a distillery. He wasn’t alone, of course. At that time, distilleries were very common, and most, like Washington’s, were attached to farms. But Washington is the only president to have ever operated a commercial distillery, and during its heyday, it was the largest distillery in the freshly-minted United States.

Distilling was something of an encore career for Washington. He started making whiskey commercially in 1797, after he’d left the office of the presidency. His 500-acre estate in Mount Vernon included grain fields, gardens, and orchards, and his farm manager, a Scotsman named James Anderson, argued that starting a distillery would be a good way to help the agricultural land at Mount Vernon be more profitable.

At the time, his 2,250 square foot distillery was the largest in the country. The whiskey made there was reportedly produced from a mash of 60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% malted barley, qualifying as rye whiskey by contemporary standards.

George Washington's Straight Rye Whiskey — The original American rye whiskey – George Washington’s Straight Rye Whiskey (image via Mount Vernon)

Most of Washington’s whiskey was sold as bulk spirit, but some was flavored with persimmons or cinnamon (take that, Fireball haters). In addition to whiskey, the distillers (including a number of slaves) also made brandy and rum, as well as vinegar.

Unfortunately, Washington died in 1799, before he could spend much time enjoying the fruits of the new business. Nevertheless, his distilling legacy lives on.

The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the nonprofit organization that currently owns and operates Washington’s family estate, constructed a replica of Washington’s distillery in 2007 (the original having been long since disassembled).

“We tried to make the distillery as faithful to Washington’s in appearance as possible,” the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association says. “The wood was finished by hand, and hand wrought nails and hardware were used throughout.” The new distillery produces limited edition releases of whiskey and brandy each year, including aged and white rye whiskey, in the style of Washington’s original products. It’s only sold through the gift shop, so if you’re interested, you’ll have to make the trek to Mount Vernon to pick up a bottle.