George Washington's Whiskey

Not the best it seems

The curators of George Washington's estate at Mount Vernon periodically sell whiskey made from the first president's recipe. Whether you'd want to drink it is your own decision, because in its day, Washington's whiskey wasn't regarded as the greatest, or even average.

Peter Carlson’s essay in the June 2010 edition of American History describes the scene at Washington’s Virginia plantation, where, in 1797, the former president installed a 75-by-30 foot distillery and made “very bad rye whiskey” from his neighboring farm’s excess grain. (Carlson interviewed Dennis Pogue, Mount Vernon’s associate director, who politely described the swill as having “a pretty sharp taste.”) No matter about the harsh flavor, though. Washington was a rock star, so, in 1798, his distillery produced 4,000 gallons of the white lighting and sold it for 50 cents per gallon. One year later, Mount Vernon produced 11,000 gallons for public consumption. Cha-ching!

Then as today, the value is in the name, not the actual product. Read more at Death and Taxes.