Laird’s Applejack. Laird’s is the oldest licensed distillery of applejack, a truly American spirit deeply rooted in the appletree-abundant colonial northeast. During a time when clean water was limited, early colonists turned to hard beverages, which were safer for consumption (well, in some ways).Apples were abundant in the area and thus the libation of choice was hard cider, which eventually found its way into hardER cider – aka applejack.

Traditionally, applejack was produced thru the simple process of “jacking,” which basically involved leaving hard cider (fermented apple juice) outside in the blistery New England winters, letting the water content freeze, and removing the ice. Since the water would freeze at at a higher temperature than the alcohol, the ice removal would concentrate the alcohol content in the cider.

Today’s modern distillation process is a bit more refined (thereby giving us a higher quality spirit than the crude applejack of the day), but still captures the essence of the fresh apple-driven historical drink. One of the most famous applejack drinks is the Jack Rose – it’s simple and delicious (just make sure you use homemade or high quality grenadine!)

Check out some applejack recipes!