Monday, January 30, 2012

George Washington and the Drinking of the Nation

The Museum of the American Cocktail recently hosted a seminar featuring Dennis Pogue, author of "Founding Spirits" on the history of the American whiskey industry. According to Pogue, George Washington was quite the rye whiskey distiller, making more money off his hooch than anything else grown on his Mount Vernon estate. Derek Brown of The Passenger and Columbia Room gave a demonstration on how to make a classic Old Fashioned and Phil Green of the Museum showcased the New Orleans Cocktail Trinity. With six rye whiskey recipes to boot, my latest installment for the MOTAC blog will have you swirling in our nation's history of drinking!