Washington's Whiskey

After eight years as President, George Washington returned to farming at his Mount Vernon estate. Someone mentioned that he might make a bit more money if he used his extra corn to make whiskey. Washington decided to give it a try. In 1798, he sold 4,000 gallons at 50 cents per gallon. In 1799, he sold 11,000 gallons.

These results are a little surprising as Washington's whiskey wasn't very good. Washington's problem was that he concocted, barreled, and sold. Historian Peter Carlson said that rushing the process flavored Washington's product with "notes of kerosene and turpentine." He continued that drinking it, "burned the throat, wrung tears from the eyes, and produced a hangover that made a drinker feel like he'd been beaten by an angry mob."

Maybe people drank it because it was the President's whiskey after all? Nope. Washington packed it in huge barrels and sent it to distributors. Customers didn't know or really care where their whiskey came from. Pretty much all the whiskey of the late 18th century was equally as bad.

Later distillers such as Jim Beam and Jack Daniels realized that placing your whiskey in burned out oak barrels and allowing it to age would create a better flavor. Jim Beam bourbon will age for about ten years. Jack Daniels scotch is filtered through charcoal and then aged in the burned out barrel for about the same amount of time. Washington's hooch aged for about 10 minutes.

For more info, I suggest:
Peter Carlson's article "Revolutionary Spirits" appeared in my favorite magazine American History.