Did you know that at the time of his death, our first president was one of the nation’s largest whiskey producers?
After a nearly 200-year hiatus and multimillion-dollar reconstruction, George Washington’s Distillery & Gristmill restarted the production of spirits 16 years ago, using Washington’s original methods and powered in part by a 16-foot waterwheel. Tours of the operation began in 2022.
Led by team members who personally distill the product, the tour highlights Washington’s expertise in whiskey production, including U.S. patent No. 3, the Oliver Evans automated gristmill system; heirloom grains; and how the team produces unaged rye whiskey, just as Washington did.
Tours are available through October with a George Washington’s Mount Vernon admission ticket, or a distillery and gristmill-only ticket for $10.
Better still, you can sample three spirits on a whiskey tasting and tour, held Saturdays and Sundays in May, June and September from 2 to 5 p.m. Tickets: $50 for Mount Vernon members; $60 for nonmembers.
The distillery is located less than 3 miles from the Mount Vernon estate, with shuttle service between the two. The whiskeys are served at the Mount Vernon Inn restaurant and also can be purchased at whiskey.mountvernon.org.
The distillery also serves as a gateway to the American Whiskey Trail, a collection of sites in Virginia and beyond that tell the history of spirit production in the United States.
George Washington’s Distillery & Gristmill, 5514 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Alexandria, Virginia; 703-780-2000