History buffs can now travel back to the time of our nation’s first president, with a glass of his original-recipe whiskey. But the limited-run spirit produced at Mount Vernon’s reconstructed distillery will cost you: $225 a bottle, to be exact.
George Washington’s Straight Rye Premium Whiskey features GW’s recipe found in his distillery ledgers from 1798 and 1799, which included 60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% malted barley. Mount Vernon’s historic trades team created the whiskey using 18th-century methods. They ground the grain in a reconstructed water-powered gristmill, fermented the whiskey in wooden mash tubs, and distilled it in copper pots heated by wood fires.
In 1799, George Washington’s distillery was the largest in America. That year, it produced nearly 11,000 gallons of spirits.
While whiskey was not aged back in Washington’s day, this whiskey was aged for four years in charred oak barrels. Mount Vernon says it “smells of fruit with a hint of oak from the barrels and has a fruit-forward taste of apples, apricots, and baking spices.”
Only 200 bottles of the premium whiskey are available, and Mount Vernon is limiting them to five bottles per customer. A 375mil bottle is $225, and you can buy it at The Shops at Mount Vernon or The Gristmill in Alexandria. For more information, click here.
-Meg Walburn Viviano
