Mount Vernon Straight Rye Whiskey

[ambibay]

Distilled by the Mount Vernon Distillery Company Baltimore MD
4/5 qt. distribute by National Distiller's products Co..... Never opened and still has "Tax Paid" Tape over cap. Was pops. Any info on it or if it is of any value. It is in a round bottle, not the square bottles I have seen on online. Thanks

[cowdery]

Mount Vernon was a pretty big brand in its day, probably one of the top Maryland ryes. The connection to George Washington's home is only by way of tribute. There is no connection to Washington's actual distillery.

It's obviously post-Prohibition but pre-1979 (when metric came in).

It's hard to say what has value these days but the only market seems to be eBay.

[EllenJ]

Mount Vernon rye had nothing whatever to do with George Washington.
It's named that because Mount Vernon is (or at least was) a very desirable section of Baltimore with which the brand wished their customers to relate it. The Hannis distillery (which made the original Mount Vernon) was located fairly close to Mount Vernon (Baltimore), although the company was actually located in Philadelphia and used the Hannis distillery as contract distillers for the brand.

Ambibay: see more information here http://ellenjaye.com/mountvernon.htm about Mount Vernon (which I've always seen in a square bottle) and Mt. Vernon (which did come in a round bottle, but would have been WAY older than what Chuck has in mind). If THAT's the one you have (note the abbreviated "Mt.", not "Mount") -- PLEASE let us know -- and take photos!!

[ambibay]

Hi EllenJ,

Thank you for the info. I actually googled and found your website nice site! It is a round 4/5 qt bottle and th label says
"Mount Vernon Straight Rye Whiskey, Aged 7 years, Distilled by the Mount Vernon Distillery Company, Baltimore MD....Distributed by National Distiller's Products Co. I'm wondering if this was some sort of "promo" bottle that Mount Vernon produced. Like I mentioned before, the Tax Paid tape is still sealed and the cap has never been opened. Here are pix. If you don't get the pic, let me know and maybe I can send it directly to your website?

Thanking you in advance

[cowdery]

I wouldn't say it had nothing whatsoever to do with Washington, but John's point is well taken. I only meant to point out that some people have speculated that there was some kind of heritage stretching back to Washington's own whiskey-making endeavor, which definitely is not the case.