Washington, George

Washington, George (1732–1799), the commanding general of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and first president of the United States, also owned one of the largest whisky distilleries in early America. He erected a substantial stone still house at his Mount Vernon estate in northern Virginia in 1797, the same year that he stepped down from the presidency. Earlier in that year, Washington’s plantation manager, a Scotsman named James Anderson who was also an experienced distiller, had successfully lobbied his employer to invest in the distillery with the promise of quick and easy profits. Two pot stills were set up in an existing building, where they produced six hundred gallons of rye whisky over the course of the year at a substantial gain of £83. See whisky, rye. By that June, Anderson already was convinced of the success of the venture, and he proposed building a stone distillery, outfitted with a total of five copper pot stills and a water boiler.

Before agreeing to the Scotsman’s offer, Washington wrote to a knowledgeable friend and local rum distiller, John Fitzgerald, asking his advice on the matter. Fitzgerald assured Washington that there was a ready market, concluding that “as to a sale of the Whisky there can be no doubt if the Quantity was ten times as much as he [Anderson] can make provided it is of good quality.” Washington’s enslaved workers began constructing the still house in October, and it was completed by the following March. In 1798 Anderson distilled 4,400 gallons of spirits. The next year production leapt to roughly 10,500 gallons, and Washington earned a profit of $1,858 (£600; Washington began using dollars and cents for his financial accounts in 1799), making the distillery the second most profitable activity on the entire Mount Vernon plantation and lifting it into the ranks of the largest whisky producers in the country. Washington’s whisky was marketed to the surrounding area, especially the nearby community of Alexandria, where it was sold on consignment by local merchants. After Washington’s death in December 1799, the distillery continued to operate for a number of years, until it was destroyed by fire in 1814 and never rebuilt.

See also aging; distillation, history; distillation, process; and still, pot.

Fitzgerald, John, to George Washington, June 12, 1797. In Papers of George Washington: Retirement Series, ed. W. W. Abbot, 1:180-181. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998.

Pogue, Dennis J., Founding Spirits: George Washington and the Beginnings of the American Whiskey Industry. Buena Vista, VA: Harbour, 2011.

By: Dennis J. Pogue