By Debbie Schlussel
Early last year, John Fund wrote a very interesting piece on George Washington’s Distillery. It’s been reconstructed near his Mount Vernon home, and Fund wrote about how Washington’s distillery was probably the #1 producer of whiskey in all of colonial America:

When it came to his own future career as a distiller, Washington paid careful attention to the business. Mount Vernon owns the original financial ledger for the operation. This was no retiree’s hobby; the ledger shows many important local families were customers and made the distillery very successful. The good times ended after Washington’s sudden death in 1799 at age 67. His distillery passed into the hands of other owners and by 1814 had been dismantled to provide construction materials for nearby homes.

Had Washington lived longer, who knows how big his infant whiskey operation could have grown? At the dedication of the rebuilt distillery, Mr. Rees spoke of what might have been: “If Washington had lived another five or maybe 10 years, I think one of his descendants would be sitting right there, in this audience, right next to the other CEOs of the nation’s best distilleries.”
But today’s whiskey barons have nothing to fear from a new Mount Vernon-sponsored whiskey line. Mr. Rees says he plans to limit the new output of Washington’s brew to a few commemorative bottles that will raise money at auction for Mount Vernon’s educational programs–which attract over a million visitors a year to the historic site and the new museum complex next to it.

Fund tried the whiskey and liked it. Now, you can try it, too, get your commemorative bottle, and tour the facility. From today’s USA Today Food Dispatches:

Take a swig of Washington’s whiskey
Now everyone has a chance to drink like a Founding Father.
Whiskey created at George Washington’s reconstructed distillery near his home at Mount Vernon, Va. – once the largest whiskey distillery in the fledgling USA – is on sale on the premises and in the mansion’s gift shop. For $25, spirit connoisseurs receive a 50-milliliter bottle (the size of an airplane mini) of a limited-edition blend of 11 American whiskeys vatted and bottled on mansion grounds. It’s 121 proof, so modern-day drinkers are advised to cut it with water. A shot glass is included.
Built on the grounds of Washington’s original distillery, the George Washington Distillery is 3 miles south of Mount Vernon and is open from April through Oct. 31. Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for children ages 6-11 and free for children 5 and under (discounts apply when combined with a Mount Vernon trip). Information: 703-780-2000 or MountVernon.org.

Read more about George Washington’s Distillery here and here.