Mount Vernon Cheers: A Song to Commemorate “I, Whiskey”

Our Indiegogo campaign for CEI’s new documentary “I Whiskey” is closing soon. So far, we have raised almost $75,000, but it’s not over yet. Please donate now if you haven’t, and if you have, you can always do so again.

You can get some great souvenir t-shirts from this rewards-based crowdfunding campaign. And CEI is also fighting to legalize equity crowdfunding , so that future entrepreneurs can legally offer profit-sharing from their projects, as well as souvenirs like t-shirts, if they choose to do so. So, this crowdfunding campaign is not just about whiskey, but the future of crowdfunding itself, as well as the future of freedom.

Subtitled “The Spirit of the Market,” “I, Whiskey” will show the creative process involved in distilling whiskey and tell the stories of American entrepreneurs and risk-takers in the whiskey biz. And one of those entrepreneurs is none other than the father of our country, George Washington.

After Washington left office as first president in the 1790s, he commissioned James Anderson, an immigrant from Scotland, to build a whiskey distillery on the grounds of Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. It soon became one of the largest distilleries in the country. I have written previously about Washington’s whiskey making and his other entrepreneurial feats that are often overlooked. The great news is that Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, with support from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, recently rebuilt the whiskey distillery on its original foundation for visitors to see and is even marketing a new whiskey based on Washington’s recipe

Some time back, I wrote some song lyrics about Washington’s distillery to go with the tune of the theme song from Cheers—“Where Everybody Knows Your Name.” So here in honor of “I Whiskey” is my song I call “Mount Vernon Cheers.” Please sing to the tune of the theme song:

Mount Vernon Cheers

By John Berlau

He was the first president of the United States,

But now he’s making and serving whiskey,

And he thinks it’s really great.

Come to Mount Vernon,

Say hello,

And you know you’d love to go.

Where George and Martha know your name,

And they’re always glad you came.

You want to see some history,

And have a whiskey all the same.

You want to go,

Where George and Martha know your name.