George Washington's Distillery: What the Records Show

George Washington agreed to establish a distillery in 1797, while admitting that distilling was a business he knew nothing about. His letters show an owner relying on experienced managers; Mount Vernon's historical accounts identify the enslaved workers whose labour helped turn that plan into a substantial whiskey operation.[1][2][3][7]

In short

• Washington authorised the venture in January 1797 and acknowledged his inexperience that June.[1][2]
• James Anderson and his son John managed the distillery from early 1798.[3]
• Mount Vernon's account names six enslaved workers involved in production in 1798.[7]

What George Washington's distillery records actually establish

The strongest starting point is Washington's correspondence, rather than a later account of a president personally making whiskey. On 8 January 1797, he consented to James Anderson “commencing a distillery” and approved purchasing a still. On 18 June, he explained his position more plainly: distilling was “a business I am entirely unacquainted with”, but Anderson's knowledge and confidence had persuaded him to proceed.[1][2]

Those letters establish a useful distinction between authorising a business and knowing its craft. Washington's name belongs in the history, but so do the people who managed production and performed the work. Reading the correspondence alongside Mount Vernon's research brings those different roles into view.[1][2][3][7]

Story box: An inexperienced owner, an experienced manager

James Anderson brought the experience

Mount Vernon's Digital Encyclopedia describes Anderson as having grown up on his father's farm near Inverkeithing in Scotland. He emigrated to America with his wife and seven children about 1791. Disputed: The encyclopedia places his employment at Mount Vernon from 1796 to 1802, while another Mount Vernon account calls him the new farm manager in January 1797. The encyclopedia says he continued after Washington's death until Martha Washington died.[9]

Anderson was therefore more than a name attached to the initial proposal. Washington's correspondence places him, together with his son John, in management of the distillery from early 1798. In September that year, Washington was asking Anderson about the operation's results.[3]

This division of responsibility matters when describing “Washington's whiskey”. The possessive identifies the enterprise associated with Washington; it should not erase the manager whose judgement he followed or imply that Washington personally operated the stills. The records support a history of delegated expertise, not a solitary presidential craftsman.[2][3]

The workers behind the whiskey

Documented: Mount Vernon's account of production in 1798 names James Anderson, assistant distiller Peter Bingle and six enslaved workers. They were James, aged 24; Hanson, 20; Peter, 18; Nat, 17; Daniel, 16 or 17; and Timothy, 14. The account credits this workforce with producing 4,500 gallons of rye whiskey that year.[7]

The names and ages make the labour history impossible to treat as background. Timothy was a child; several others were teenagers. These were enslaved people working within Washington's enterprise, not employees whose participation can be described as voluntary.[7]

The same account identifies both an enslaved worker named Peter and assistant distiller Peter Bingle. They should remain distinct in the telling, rather than being merged because they share a first name. John Anderson's management role comes from the separate correspondence record.[3][7]

For the wider subject, enslaved workers and Black distillers provides the appropriate next step. Here, the essential correction is straightforward: an account centred only on Washington and Anderson leaves out people whom Mount Vernon's own research identifies as makers of the whiskey.[7]

A working site beside the mill

The distillery stood near the gristmill on Dogue Creek, about 3.2 kilometres (two miles) from the mansion, according to the Distilled Spirits Council's historical account. The Council gives the building's area as about 209 square metres (2,250 square feet).[11][12]

The correspondence and its editorial notes distinguish the decision to begin from the construction of the substantial stone building. They also distinguish construction from the operation of its new equipment. Those are separate milestones, rather than interchangeable founding dates.[1][2]

Documented: Mount Vernon's account reports that Polish visitor Julian Niemcewicz praised the leftover mash as excellent feed for pigs in 1798. His observation connects whiskey production with the farm beyond the still house.[8]

More than rye whiskey

Rye whiskey was not the site's only product. Mount Vernon's account records rectified whiskey, meaning whiskey filtered to remove impurities, and whiskey flavoured with cinnamon or persimmons. It also lists apple, peach and persimmon brandies, together with vinegar.[6]

These details complicate the idea of one fixed historical product. A reference to whiskey in the records does not make every sale or batch identical, while fruit brandies belong to a different part of the production story. The enterprise handled several products rather than rye alone.[6]

Documented: The Council's account reports eight gallons of peach brandy sold in 1798 and a ledger entry sending 60 gallons to the “Mount Vernon house” for entertaining in 1799. The distinction between sales and a transfer to the house matters: they record different destinations, not simply two comparable sales totals.[11]

Niemcewicz's production figure also needs its proper label. He reported in 1798 that the distillery could make up to 12,000 gallons annually; Mount Vernon's account gives actual production in 1799 as nearly 11,000 gallons. An estimate of what a site could make is not the same measurement as what it did make.[8]

Washington's last autumn: demand and succession

Documented: On 29 October 1799, Washington wrote that about 200 gallons of whiskey were awaiting collection and that “the demand for this article (in these parts) is brisk”.[5] Disputed: Founders Online identifies the recipient as his nephew William Augustine Washington, while the Council describes the recipient as a cavalry commander, a description that may refer to another man.[5][12]

In the same letter, Washington said he had rented the mill and distillery to Lawrence Lewis. The Founders Online editors explain that Lewis would rent the mill, distillery and Dogue Run farm in 1800. Keeping the letter's statement beside the editorial chronology avoids collapsing arrangements for the following year into an undated transfer.[5]

The correspondence is valuable precisely because it concerns ordinary business: whiskey awaiting collection, grain to obtain and arrangements for the property. It shows Washington attending to the enterprise in October 1799, rather than merely lending his name to an idea conceived earlier.[5]

Reconstruction is another chapter

The original distillery burned in 1814 and was not rebuilt. The reconstructed distillery has its own chronology: the Council records a dedication in September 2006 and public opening in March 2007. These are distinct events.[10][11]

According to the Council's 2010 announcement, Dave Pickerell made rye whiskey at the reconstructed distillery in February 2009 using the ledger recipe. The announcement records 471 bottles of 375 ml offered at the first public tasting on 1 July 2010.[10]

Documented: Rye and peach brandy returned to sale after the original distillery's fire. The Council reports that participating small distillers made the recreated peach brandy in 2010, with 400 bottles of 375 ml offered on 1 April 2014. That reconstruction used double distillation in copper pot stills heated by wood fires, followed by two years in toasted oak.[11]

Those details describe the modern recreation. They should not silently become evidence that Washington's peach brandy underwent exactly the same maturation. The historical ledger entries and the modern production account answer different questions.[11]

Where to go next

• Enslaved Workers and Black Distillers in American Whiskey History: places the named Mount Vernon workers within the wider history.
• The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794: Frontier Farmers Against a Spirits Tax: explores the earlier conflict surrounding spirits taxation.
• The History of Bourbon and Kentucky Whiskey: follows another strand of American whiskey's development.

Sources

1. Founders Online, US National Archives. George Washington to James Anderson, 8 January 1797, letter and editorial notes, 1797. Read through search extracts in the supplied fact sheet; direct page recheck required. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-21-02-0209

2. Founders Online, US National Archives. From George Washington to James Anderson, 18 June 1797, letter and editorial notes, 1797. Read through search extracts in the supplied fact sheet; direct page recheck required. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-01-02-0158

3. Founders Online, US National Archives. George Washington to James Anderson, 16 September 1798, letter and editorial notes, 1798. Read through search extracts in the supplied fact sheet; direct page recheck required. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-03-02-0001

4. Founders Online, US National Archives. From George Washington to William Augustine Washington, 29 October 1799, letter and editorial notes, 1799. Read through search extracts in the supplied fact sheet; direct page recheck required. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-04-02-0323

5. George Washington's Mount Vernon. Ten Facts About the Distillery, undated web edition supplied in the fact sheet. Read through search extracts; direct page recheck required. https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/distillery/ten-facts-about-the-distillery

6. George Washington's Mount Vernon. Making George Washington Bourbon, December 2018. Read through search extracts in the supplied fact sheet; direct page recheck required. https://www.mountvernon.org/blog/2018/12/making-george-washington-bourbon

7. George Washington's Mount Vernon, Digital Encyclopedia. Whiskey Production, undated web edition supplied in the fact sheet. Read through search extracts; direct page recheck required. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/whiskey-production

8. George Washington's Mount Vernon, Digital Encyclopedia. James Anderson, undated web edition supplied in the fact sheet. Read through search extracts; direct page recheck required. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/james-anderson

9. Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, industry body. BUY GEORGE! First Public Opportunity to Buy and Taste George Washington Rye Whiskey at the Mount Vernon Distillery, 1 July 2010. https://distilledspirits.org/news/buy-george-first-public-opportunity-to-buy-and-taste-george-washington-rye-whiskey-at-the-mount-vernon-distillery/

10. Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, industry body. George Washington's Peach Brandy Goes on Sale for 1st Time in More Than 200 Years, 19 March 2014. https://distilledspirits.org/news/george-washingtons-peach-brandy-goes-on-sale-for-1st-time-in-more-than-200-years/

11. Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, industry body. Rare George Washington Distillery Letter Goes on Display at Historic Decatur House, May 2021. https://distilledspirits.org/news/rare-george-washington-distillery-letter-goes-on-display-at-historic-decatur-house/

This desk research article uses the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing Washington's correspondence from editorial notes, Mount Vernon's historical accounts and industry accounts of the reconstruction.

Last checked: November 2026