George Washington: General, President, Whiskey Maker

George Washington was a founding father of the United States, the supreme leader of the Revolutionary Army, the first U.S. President and among the country’s heroic patriots.  The last two years of his life took an entirely different path. He produced some of the country’s finest whiskey at the largest known distillery of its time.

Washington switched from raising tobacco to corn and grain at his Mr. Vernon plantation in Virginia. The grain production and water from a large creek that ran through the property provided the major items needed to make distilling whiskey an obvious enterprise.

The manager of the Mt. Vernon estate was James Anderson who came from Scotland where he worked in his family- owned whiskey distilling business.  He recognized the potential at Washington’s plantation and encouraged the retired general and president to get into the whiskey business.

Washington hesitated for several months before giving Anderson authority to get the business started. He was concerned about taking time away from his several enterprises.  Among his personal papers was a comment Washington made to Anderson about accepting his recommendations:

Distillery is a business I am entirely unacquainted with, but from your knowledge of it and from the confidence you have in the profit to be derived from the establishment, I am disposed to enter upon one.

The two men agreed to put Anderson in charge of the whiskey production to keep the workload off of Washington’s shoulders. The whiskey production began in 1797.

Washington insisted that the whiskey production not be restricted to an inexpensive variety that would lead to drunkenness by the masses. Anderson agreed and produced a high quality rye (blended whiskey) that was expensive but very popular. They called it Liquid Gold; a premium whiskey that is still made today in limited production.

Anderson started with a two-still operation. Public demand was so good that a larger facility was built to hold five stills before the end of the first year. That was the largest distillery in the country at its time.

Business peaked in 1799 with a gross income of $7,500. That’s about $120,000 in today’s dollars. The business distilled nearly 11,000 gallons of whiskey and smaller amounts of peach, apple, persimmon and cinnamon brandies.

Washington died in December of that banner year.  He was 67 years old. Washington’s survivors continued the business until the distillery building burned in 1814.

A working replica of the distillery now offers visitors an opportunity to witness the methods Anderson used to make quality whiskey.  It’s one of the things we can admire about Washington who led the war against the British for eight years and served two terms as the first U.S. president.

Thanks for reading this blog. Look for a new blog in this space in about a week. See my web site at www.joevlatino.com. You can see samples of my next book of short stories that’s being written now. My first book, “The Device,” is on sale on the website. An e-book version of the short story collection is available through Amazon.com.