I strongly link Laird’s Applejack in my mind with cocktails.
#Applejack old fashioned license#
In 1933, the family was also granted a federal license to produce apple brandy for medicinal purposes. If you are wondering how they survived during Prohibition, the sixth generation stayed in operation by producing other apple products like sweet cyder and apple sauce. Pectin acted as a preservative for war food rations. Much later, during World War II, Laird converted an area of their distillery for the drying and dehydration of apple pomace for production of pectin to aid in the war effort. In 1780, Robert Laid recorded the first commercial transaction at the distillery in Scobeyville, NJ. His diary entry refers to a production of “cyder spirits.” Robert Laird was also a Revolutionary soldier who served under George Washington, at which time the Laird family provided the troops with Applejack. In 1760, George Washington is said to have written the Laird family to ask for their Applejack recipe. According to them, their original family distillery was located behind Colts Neck Inn, New Jersey in the year 1717. Today’s blended Applejack is from Laird’s, which claims to be the oldest distillery in America. This freeze-distillation method was historically preferred since it was low-infrastructure: no need for firewood, which was used as fuel at that time, and no need for stills, either. Due to freeze distillation removing water, the strength then increased to approximately 25% to 40%. After initial production, it was said to finish fermenting at around 10% ABV. Cider would be produced in the fall and left outside to freeze during winter. The name is said to come from the traditional method of “jacking,” in which you freeze fermented cider to remove the ice and then increase the alcohol content. I still have questions such as: What kind of apples are used? How long do the usual fermentations go for? Are they closed or open fermentations? What’s the usual type of still used? Are the aging stocks transferred to more used casks just like what’s done in Calvados? Or are the brandy just left to aged in one cask until it’s deemed mature enough? Apart from these gleaned bits, I don’t know any more details regarding their production or Applejack production in general. The main takeaway I got was that they use what appears to be a traditional column still. Laird’s has a YouTube video showing their production process, but it lacks a narrated explanation of what the steps are and why they’re doing it. (Neutral spirits are basically the undiluted form of vodka.) The minimum amount of apple brandy a blended Applejack can have is 20%, while 80% neutral spirits is the max. Just like blended American whiskey, it has neutral spirits mixed in with it. This means that Calvados is a brandy made from apple and pear ciders, whereas Applejack is just an apple-based brandy.īlended Applejack also exists. Pear and apples are the fruits used to make cider in Normandy, which is where Calvados is made. Aside from being a French brandy, Calvados is cider-based. Yes, it sounds like Calvados, because it’s commonly and mistakenly referred to as an apple brandy… but that’s only partly correct. It is essentially a spirit distilled from apples. Despite the rise of American spirits, Applejack is still a mystery to me. My guess is: aside from being a requirement for the Jack Rose cocktail, not many people know what Applejack is.
Why is it, then, that America’s first spirit, Applejack, flies so under the radar? What beverages and brand/s we drank, as well as who we were with. How old we were when we first drank booze. Other memorable firsts we can easier remember are who had our first kiss with. One of the most common sayings is everyone remembers Neil Armstrong, but not many know the name of those who came after him. Everyone remembers their firsts and the person or company that does something first. In the minds of many, being the first is important.
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