Applejack is an original American spirit, dating back to the times of Washington. The Laird family, producers of Applejack and several versions of an aged Apple Brandy started commercial production in 1780 and apparently received the first US distillery license in the small community of Scobeyville, NJ.Applejack was popular with the early colonists, who were leery of drinking water; they believed it to carry disease and were convinced that the strong spririts promoted good health.
According to Laird's website, Robert Laird was a Revolutionary War soldier serving under George Washington, and the Laird family supplied the troops with Applejack. Historical records show that, prior to 1760, George Washington wrote to the Laird family requesting their recipe for producing Applejack, which the Laird family gladly supplied. Entries appear in Washington’s diary in the 1760’s regarding his production of "cyder spirits".
Today, Laird’s AppleJack is not straight apple brandy, but a 35% apple brandy base which is combined with neutral grain spirits along with a "hint of apple flavor
and aroma" which is conspicuously obfuscatory.According to the company a 750 ML bottle of Lairds AppleJack contains 6 lbs of apples and a bottle of Lairds Apple Bond contains 20 lbs of apples. I picked up a bottle of both recently for the purposes of experimentation - first on their own, then in some cocktails.
The AppleJack has a distinct fresh apple aroma and flavor, as advertised. Due to the 40 proof, it is fairly light, somewhat smooth with a nice appley finish. The Apple Bond has less of the fresh apple flavor, but has a lot more distilled apple character along with more heat. Definitely not a sipping brandy. When mixed in a cocktail, the Apple Bond really comes alive with an effusion of complex apple flavors and slightly more heat. I highly recommend it as the first choice in all of the cocktails below.
The cocktails choices were taken mostly from CocktailDB and were a small sampling based on drinks that sounded particularly tasty or made use of ingredients of current interest.
A.J Cocktail
1 1/2 oz grapefruit juice
1 1/2 oz applejack
1/2 oz grenadine
Shake ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Rating*** (out of 5) A good cocktail with a nice grapefruit zing.
Devil's Leap
1 oz light rum
1 oz swedish punch
1 oz applejack
Stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Rating* Not enough tanginess to go with the Swedish Punsch.
Diki Cocktail #2
2 oz sloe gin (used Plymouth)
1/4 oz applejack
1/4 oz grapefruit juice
Shake ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Rating*** More of a showcase of sloe gin, the subject of a future post, no doubt.
Jack Rose
1 1/2 oz applejack or bonded apple brandy
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz grenadine
Stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Rating ***** An amazing cocktail sprang forth from these basic, but quality ingredients. The ultimate demonstration of how apple brandy can come alive in a cocktail.
Jinx Cocktail
1/2 oz. passion fruit nectar
1 oz. gin
1boz. applejack
1 dash Angostura
Stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Rating***1/2 On the sweeter side, but everything in check.
Marconi Wireless
1 3/4 oz applejack (used Apple bond)
3/4 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica)
2 dashes orange bitters (Regan's)
Stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Rating **** An excellent appley variant on the Manhattan. And it has a cool name and interesting historic link. More here.
Diamondback (from Cocktail Chronicles, link here)
1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey (Rittenhouse bonded strongly recommended)
3/4 ounce applejack (Laird’s bonded apple brandy strongly recommended)
3/4 ounce Chartreuse (yellow works, but green works better)
Stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Rating**1/2 This didn't do too much for me. Mostly Chartreuse dominated and I think there are better Chartreuse cocktails out there (or here).
Apple Swizzle
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz apple brandy
3/4 oz light rum
5 dashes Angostura bitters
1 tsp sugar (4 dashes)
Pour ingredients in a highball glass filled with cracked ice. Swizzle (stir) until glass frosts.
Rating**** Nice addition to the growing Swizzle armory.
C.f.h Cocktail
1 oz gin
1/2 oz apple brandy
1/2 oz swedish punch (used Saturnus Arracks-Punsch extract 50/50 with Van Oosten Batavia Arrack)
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz grenadine (used Ferrara)
Stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Rating *** Very Swedish Punsch-y. Pretty sweet, even with half the grenadine. Good, not great. Apple Brandy is in the background without a significant role.
Diki Diki Cocktail
2 oz Calvados or apple brandy
1/4 oz swedish punch
1/4 oz grapefruit juice
Stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Rating *** Very good with the Apple brandy showing through, but the grapefruit/swedish punsch blend is a little flat.
Hugo Bracer
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz apple brandy
1/2 oz Amer Picon (used Torani Amer)
1/2 oz grenadine (used Ferrara - a new and interesting grenadine)
Stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Rating**** A little on the sweet side (will use closer to 1/4 oz. grenadine next time), but a great combination of the tartness of the lime and the apple with the sweetness of the grenadine and the complex bitter-oranginess of the Amer Picon. All in all, a very nice cocktail.
Warday's (War Days)
3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
3/4 oz apple brandy
1/4 oz green Chartreuse or Yellow Chartreuse
Stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Rating*** Interesting mix of flavors. Not really a showcase of apple brandy per se, but the ingredients are pretty well balanced in the overall impression.
Final Notes - The Apple brandies tasted as part of this post are excellent spirits, which best express themselves mixed in cocktails. The Jack Rose cocktail was a revelation, especially when made with the Laird's Apple Bond Brandy. The apple character really shines through and blends well with the lime and pomegranate flavors. Recipes usually specify lemon or lime - I've found lime to produce a superior drink. Also homemade grenadine is key here (I opt for 1:1 pomegranate juice to sugar).
In addition, the Marconi Wireless, Apple Swizzle and Hugo Bracer are excellent cocktails and showcase the mixability and complexity of Apple Brandy.
