George Washington’s Distillery & Gristmill sits on the Mount Vernon estate grounds in Alexandria, Virginia, where America’s first president once ran one of the largest whiskey operations in the country. The reconstructed distillery opened in 2007 as a working historical site, built on the exact spot where Washington produced nearly 11,000 gallons of rye whiskey in 1799. You’ll find it about three miles south of the main Mount Vernon mansion, operating as both a functional distillery and living history museum that brings 18th-century spirits production back to life. Washington’s original distillery venture began in 1797 when his Scottish farm manager James Anderson convinced him there was serious money in whiskey production. Within two years, Washington was operating five copper pot stills and making more profit from whiskey than farming. The operation employed six enslaved workers who handled the dangerous, labor-intensive process of mashing, fermenting, and distilling. Historical records show Washington’s whiskey sold for 50 cents per gallon and was shipped as far as Philadelphia and the West Indies. Today’s reconstructed facility uses the same methods Washington’s distillers employed, complete with wood-fired stills and 18th-century techniques. Costumed interpreters demonstrate the mashing and distilling process using period equipment, while the adjacent gristmill grinds corn and wheat just like it did in Washington’s time. You’re not just touring a distillery here—you’re stepping into the founding era of American whiskey production, complete with the gritty realities of how spirits were made before modern technology.