Mount Vernon, VA – After ten years of research and reconstruction, Mount Vernon will fire up the stills at George Washington’s Whiskey Distillery – 210 years after Washington began distilling corn and rye whiskey. The Distillery and adjacent Gristmill will feature a "spirited" grand opening weekend celebration March 31 – April 1, with costumed distillers and millers operating the fascinating water-powered machinery in both buildings 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The festive family fun continues outdoors with a visit from "George Washington," early-American music, open-hearth cooking, and spinning demonstrations. Hands-on activities include Colonial games, cornhusk doll-making, butter-churning, bucket-making and learning about archaeology by piecing together pottery fragments.

George Washington’s Distillery & Gristmill is located on Route 235, three miles south of Mount Vernon. Admission to the site is $4 for adults, $2 for children ages 6-11, and free for children 5 and under.  When combined with admission to Mount Vernon, tickets are $2 for adults, $1.50 for children ages 6-11, and free for children 5 and under.

Visitors will be able to see costumed distillers operating five copper stills, stirring mash tubs, and managing the boiler as they demonstrate 18th-century distilling.  The two-story building also features a storage cellar with barrels, an office, and two bedrooms where the site manager and assistant would have lived.  On the second floor, a History Channel video called “George Washington’s Liquid Gold” and a museum exhibit, “Spirits of Independence: George Washington and the Beginnings of the American Whiskey Industry,” tell the story of whiskey at Mount Vernon and its history in America.

The Distillery is adjacent to George Washington’s Gristmill, a water-powered mill.  At the Gristmill, costumed millers operate four floors of machinery to show visitors how Washington’s complex farming operation expanded to include a commercial gristmill which produced flour that was exported around the world. 

George Washington was the only founding father to commercially operate a whiskey distillery, and its size and volume of production rank the building among the most important structures of its kind in 18th-century America.  One of the most successful economic components of Mount Vernon, the distillery at peak production in 1799 utilized five stills and a boiler and produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey valued at $7,500.  George Washington’s desire to pursue the most innovative and creative farming practices of his time is demonstrated by his commitment to building such a large structure.

Mount Vernon archaeologists began their investigation of the site in 1997, a project which accelerated in 2001 with a generous donation from DISCUS.  In addition to contributing a total of $2.1 million to the project, DISCUS has named the Distillery the gateway to its newly developed American Whiskey Trail (http://www.discus.org/trail/).