George Washington's Birthday
It's George Washington's birthday! At least the celebration of it. George Washington was born on February 22 1732, and most well known as the first president of the United States. We're here to inform you of a special fact (possibly the most important) about George Washington on this celebration of his birthday.
George Washington owned a distillery!
Yes, that's right. The first president of the United States loved to drink... in moderation, of course. Washington had no experience in distilling but was convinced to begin the operation by James Anderson, his Scottish farm manager. Washington began distilling in 1797, which only gave him two years with the distillery since he passed away in 1799 but it proved to be a success.
It began with only two stills in a very small operation. This operation produced six hundred gallons which ended up selling for a good profit. From that moment, Washington was convinced. He and Anderson built a large scale distillery and began their business in Mount Vernon, Virginia. The distillery ended up being the largest one in the nation at that time!
And the most common beverage produced by the distillery? That's right... whiskey! In Mount Vernon there is a fully functioning reconstruction of the distillery where small batches of George Washington's whiskey are sold once a year. Pretty rad. We wonder what George Washington would have thought about a pair of Balls of Steel back then. We think he'd be impressed.
Be sure to celebrate George Washington's birthday today in the most proper way: Have a dram of your favorite whiskey in his honor.
Chelsea Bakken
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