George Washington's Distillary

The Distillery is the only site in North America that demonstrates 18th-century distilling from seed to barrel.(that is legal)  George Washington continued to diversify his business operation at Mount Vernon throughout his life.  In 1797 he began construction of a large whiskey distillery  Completed in March 1798, the distillery became a very profitable business for Washington.  Inside the distillery there were five copper pot stills, making this one of the largest whiskey distilleries in America at that time.  Recently reconstructed, visitors can learn about Washington's whiskey and the steps that go into making a fine spirit.  I learned that they sell the whiskey twice a year and that the first time this year it sold out in just three days.  The fresh whiskey sells for 80 dollars a pint and the aged stuff sells for 180 dollars a pint!  It is made with a mash of 60% rye, 35% corn and 5% malted barley.   They actually stir by hand the mash starting with the rye and corn and it is pretty sticky stuff and then when the malted barley is added they said that it thins out rather quickly!  My pictures aren't the best, but it was a pretty impressive place to see. I didn't get the picture of the bigger barrels but they were pretty darn large, looked exactly like the smaller ones in the picture but much bigger.  If you look close you can see in the bottom picture the copper pot stills.

My step-dad looks a lot better than I expected, which is good.  I unfortunately came down with a sore throat and a severe ear infection.  Matt came down with just the cold.  I now have antibiotics for it but the throat and the ear feels just a tad better.  I got a little concerned when I had blood draining from it but the doc didn't seem too concerned.  I guess I won't be unless it doesn't start to feel better by Thursday.  Have a good rest of the week.