Applejack (drink)

Background

Applejack was first produced in colonial New Jersey in 1698 by William Laird, a Scots American who settled in Monmouth County. The drink was once known as Jersey Lightning. Laird's great-grandson, Robert Laird, who served in the Continental Army, incorporated Laird's Distillery in 1780, after previously operating a tavern.

The oldest licensed applejack distillery in the United States, Laird & Company of Scobeyville, New Jersey, was until the 2000s the country's only remaining producer of applejack, and continues to dominate applejack production. Once popular in early America, applejack declined in popularity due to the rise of other spirits that were easier to manufacture on a commercial basis, including rum and whiskey (especially bourbon) in the 19th century and gin, vodka, and tequila in the 20th century. In 1920, with the beginning of the Prohibition era, Laird's ended the production of liquor and began producing apple juice.

In 1931, John Evans Laird received permission to produce apple brandy for "medicinal purposes" and stockpiled its product until the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Applejack has been associated with four presidents of the United States: after the American Revolution, George Washington requested from Robert Laird his family's recipe for applejack; Abraham Lincoln served it during a brief stint as a tavern keeper in Springfield, Illinois; Franklin D. Roosevelt included applejack in the Manhattans he regularly consumed; and Lyndon B. Johnson gave a case of applejack to Soviet leader Alexei Kosygin in the 1967 Glassboro Summit Conference. In the 2010s, a number of smaller craft distilleries began to produce applejack in places such as New Hampshire, Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, New York's Hudson Valley, Holland, Michigan, and in Toronto.

Colonial Origins & the Laird Legacy

The drink earned the colorful nickname "Jersey Lightning" during its early years. What made this family's operation remarkable was its longevity: Laird & Company, based in Scobeyville, New Jersey, held the distinction of being the oldest licensed applejack distillery in the United States. Until the 2000s, it stood as the nation's sole remaining applejack producer, and it continues to dominate the category's production. This centuries-old lineage gave applejack a unique place among American spirits, anchoring it firmly in the colonial era and earning its reputation as one of the country's original distilled beverages.

The Art of Jacking & Modern Production

The very name "applejack" comes from the traditional technique called jacking, a form of freeze distillation. After the autumn harvest, hard cider with an alcohol content below ten percent was left outdoors through the winter. As ice crystals formed, they were periodically scooped away, concentrating the remaining liquid to roughly 25 to 40 percent alcohol. An alternative approach involved setting a cask of cider in snow, letting ice build on the interior walls, then tapping the cask to drain the still-liquid portion.

This method required minimal infrastructure and no firewood for heating, making it accessible to colonial households, though the product cost more than grain-based spirits. The downside was that the concentrated liquid retained not just ethanol but also methanol, esters, aldehydes, and fusel alcohols. Today, modern commercial producers largely abandon jacking entirely, instead blending apple brandy with neutral grain spirits, while some still employ molecular sieves to manage methanol levels.

Cycles of Popularity & Decline

Applejack's cultural trajectory has been anything but linear. Once a staple of early American life, the spirit gradually lost ground as other alcoholic beverages became simpler to manufacture on a commercial scale. Rum and whiskey, particularly bourbon, crowded it out during the nineteenth century, while gin, vodka, and tequila continued the pressure in the twentieth.

Yet the era also sparked a revival, as the drink's relative ease of home production made it attractive during the dry years. After Prohibition ended, applejack faded once more. A genuine resurgence arrived in the mid-2010s and early 2020s, when a wave of small craft distilleries in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, New York's Hudson Valley, Holland, Michigan, and even Toronto began crafting their own versions, reintroducing the spirit to a new generation of drinkers.

Presidential Ties & Cultural Footprint

Applejack has enjoyed an unusual thread of presidential association spanning more than two centuries. Following the American Revolution, George Washington reportedly requested Robert Laird's family recipe for the spirit. Abraham Lincoln, during his brief period as a tavern keeper in Springfield, Illinois, served applejack to his patrons. Franklin D. Roosevelt incorporated the drink into the Manhattans he habitually enjoyed.

Johnson presented a case of applejack to Soviet leader Alexei Kosygin at the Glassboro Summit Conference, making the colonial-era spirit a piece of Cold War diplomacy. Beyond the White House, applejack holds a recognized place in cocktail culture, featuring in drinks such as the Jack Rose. In the United States, it is legally classified as a type of brandy, and it is often compared to calvados, the Norman apple brandy from France. The key distinction lies in the fruit: calvados is crafted from cider apples, while applejack traditionally uses varieties like Winesap, underscoring the drink's distinctly American character.