MOUNT VERNON, Va. – All 471 bottles of rye whiskey made from the same recipe George Washington used were sold at a public tasting at the first president’s Mount Vernon estate.

The 400 to 500 people who attended Thursday’s event were allowed to sample small amounts before buying the $85-a-bottle whiskey produced at Washington’s reconstructed distillery.

It marked the first distilled spirits tasting under a new law that took effect Thursday. Previously, only beer and wine tastings were allowed in Virginia.

Proceeds will benefit Mount Vernon’s education programs.

Washington was the nation’s most successful whiskey maker after his presidency. By 1799, the year he died, Washington was producing 11,000 gallons of whiskey a year.