⭐ The most underrated version in the whole family, and it is made with the oldest American spirit there is.
Apple brandy is properly American — Laird’s, in New Jersey, holds distilled spirits licence number one and traces commercial production back to 1780, which makes it the oldest licensed distillery in the country. In an Old Fashioned it gives you orchard fruit with real structure underneath, and it has a natural affinity for the orange peel that bourbon has to work at.
🔴 Read the label carefully, because there are two different products. Laird’s Applejack is a blend of apple brandy and neutral grain spirit. What you want is Laird’s Bottled-in-Bond Straight Apple Brandy at 100 proof — one distillation season, one distillery, four years minimum, exactly 100 proof. It costs a little more and it is a completely different drink.
Ingredients
- 2 oz bonded straight apple brandy, 100 proof (Laird’s is the benchmark)
- 1/3 oz Simple Syrup, or demerara syrup
- 3 dashes Angostura bitters
- 2 dashes orange bitters
- 1 wide strip orange peel
- 1 large clear ice cube
- 1 real cocktail cherry (optional)
Directions
- Bitters and syrup into the glass; stir to combine.
- Add the apple brandy, stir a couple of turns.
- Add the large cube and stir 20–30 seconds. At 100 proof this can take the full stir — it has the structure to spend on dilution.
- Taste before garnishing.
- Express a wide strip of orange peel over the surface, wipe the rim, drop it in.
Notes
Why 100 proof matters here. Bottled-in-bond is a federal designation from the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 — one distillation season, one distiller, one distillery, at least four years in a bonded warehouse, bottled at exactly 100 proof. It was a consumer-protection law written when fake and adulterated spirits were a real public problem, and it is now quietly the best guarantee of value on the shelf.
Demerara syrup instead of white is worth trying here — the light toffee note sits right on top of the apple.
In autumn this and the maple-and-rye version are the two I reach for. A dash of black walnut bitters in place of the orange bitters is very good.