Cold Weather and Apples Were Two Things the American Colonies Had. Industrious Scottish Immigrants Turned Them Into a Favorite Spirit

In the course of the 1760s, George Washington wrote to the Laird household in New Jersey, pleading for the recipe for a bewitching “cyder spirit” the Lairds brewed. And Abraham Lincoln later bought the identical drink throughout his stint as a tavern keeper in Springfield, Illinois—although we will’t ensure whether or not Abe was serving the Laird recipe.

William Laird emigrated from Scotland’s Fife County in 1698 and commenced distilling his “cyder,” known as applejack, within the Colonies. The Lairds launched their applejack operation in 1780 as Laird & Firm, the identical 12 months they obtained the first-ever distillery license from the U.S. authorities. 

To make applejack, a kind of apple brandy, you must grasp the artwork of “jacking”—freezing fermented hard cider and eradicating the ice chunks that type. Since alcohol freezes at a a lot decrease temperature than water, the water within the cider freezes first, whereas the alcohol stays liquid, successfully concentrating the boozy portion. Colonial settlers would depart barrels of cider outdoors throughout brutal New England winters, chipping away the frozen water to create a potent spirit that would attain from 25 to 40 % alcohol. The extra ice they eliminated, the stronger the drink turned. 

Jacking required no particular tools, making applejack far simpler to provide than grain whiskeys that demanded elaborate stills and cautious temperature management. Like many American distilleries, Laird & Firm shuttered its applejack operations when Prohibition arrived in 1920. However months earlier than the twenty first Modification repealed Prohibition in December 1933, Laird & Firm obtained a federal license to provide alcohol for “medicinal functions,” which let it reopen earlier than many opponents. Right this moment, Laird and different trendy business producers have largely changed conventional jacking with steam distillation—utilizing steam to vaporize the alcohol earlier than condensing it again into liquid type—which permits year-round manufacturing.

Laird & Firm’s bottles of applejack are nonetheless discovered in lots of liquor shops, in basic cocktails such because the Jack Rose (plus lemon juice and grenadine), and in newer concoctions just like the American Trilogy (plus rye, orange bitters and sugar). It drinks like a full-bodied whiskey, however with brilliant, crisp and barely bitter notes which are distinctly apple-y. It’s sufficient to tantalize anybody on first sip—even when you’re a founding father.