George Washingtons Whiskey

[nardo]

Does anyone have any info on the making of Washingtons whikey at Monticello a while back? I would like to find some info and possibly a bottle of the whiskey if it is avaiable,and within my budget.

Thanks, Phil

[musher]

There were articles about making whiskey at Mount Vernon, but I don't recall any about making Washington's whiskey at Tomas Jefferson's estate of Monticello.

[nardo]

Sorry, my mitake, MT.Vernon is absolutly correct. Im embarassed.

To look at me youd never believe I was so flexible as to be able to put my head so far up my...well you know

[musher]

Give this link a try. It is to a discussion, and contains a link to a Washington Post story.

[bluesbassdad]

Mike,

Based only a quick look-see, I think the Post article has been archived so the link contained in the SB.com post no longer works. I'd guess that one could subscribe to their online service (for a fee, of course) and access the article in their archives.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[cowdery]

George Washington's Distillery at Mr. Vernon has been the subject of a major archaeological effort in recent years, funded in part by grants from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) and the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America. It is part of the Mt. Vernon estate but located away from the main property most tourists see. Appropriately, it is at the site of the estate's gristmill.

As part of the project, whiskey has been made in a replica still constructed for that purpose. All of America's masters distillers participated. While I believe some of that whiskey has been sold at auction it is not in general distribution.

According to the records archaeologists have discovered, Washington's whiskey likely was similar to our straight ryes, though not aged.

The objective of the archaeological effort is to reconstruct a complete, working 18th century distillery on the site.

The Mt. Vernon Distillery project was the subject of an extensive Archaeology Magazine Interactive Dig.

[OneCubeOnly]

Actually, that Washington Post link still works for me, but you may have to jump through a lot of hoops to get access. It's free, but you have to practically give them a blood sample first.

[bluesbassdad]

Now it works for me, too. (I rendered my blood sample some time ago.) I must have hit a pothole on the information superhighway when I tried it earlier today.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[musher]

It worked for me (I checked it before I posted the link). I'm registered, though (it's free), so that might be the difference between what I saw and what you saw.

[gr8erdane]

About a year ago I subscribed to American History Magazine and one issue had some info on George Washington's whiskey operation that while brief was fairly interesting. I let a friend who teaches high school history borrow my issues and when I get them back will see if I can paraphrase some of the more interesting info. What I do remember is one page of illustrations that showed some ingenuity for automation of the operation that was astounding given the time period. If I can get my scanner working after I get the volume back, I'll post the pic.