Who says the government can’t get anything meaningful accomplished?

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed into law this week SB1261, which designates George Washington Rye Whiskey—produced at the restored late-eighteenth-century-style George Washington Distillery at Mount Vernon—as the Commonwealth’s official “state spirit.” Virginia State Senator Adam P Ebbin of Alexandria (my current stomping ground!) sponsored the bill.

The legislation, SB1261, sponsored by Virginia State Senator Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and signed into law last week by Governor Terry McAuliffe, adds George Washington’s Rye Whiskey produced at Mount Vernon to the list of official emblems and designations of the Commonwealth.

Beginning in 2000, with a $2.1 million grant from the distilled spirits sector, Mount Vernon began the excavation and restoration of the distillery. In the Fall of 2006, the distillery was officially dedicated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony presided over by Britain’s Prince Andrew. The first bottles produced on the still were released in 2009 and sold out immediately. The distillery makes a limited number of bottles of both barrel-aged and unaged rye available each year for purchase at Mount Vernon.

“George Washington was not only the father of our country, but one of the country’s largest distillers of his time,” says Distilled Spirits Council p

resident & CEO Kraig R. Naasz. “We toast Virginia for celebrating the vibrant history of the state and naming the Rye Whiskey from George Washington’s Distillery as the official state spirit.”