Applejack

[slkinsey]

Another Laird's bonded update: They recently added Opici as distributor, and Opici may be the best option for those wishing to order/stock Laird's bonded.

[notahumanissue]

Liquor store and bar managers, and interested consumers:  Empire's code for Laird's Bonded is # 577974

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I just called my Empire rep. He seemed a little confused, almost insisting that it'd be impossible to get. He's gonna check for me, and I'll see if it's in my Empire shipment tomorrow.

Oh joy!

[Chris Amirault]

The Marconi Wireless popped up in two places tonight: first while snooping around drinkboston.com, a fine local cocktail blog, and then here in our own Dave the Cook's report from Tales of the Cocktail:

Ted told a great story (detailed elsewhere, but better when heard in Ted's voice) about a phone conversation with Larry Laird, and both Ted and Gary emphasized the versatility of the spirit, saying that you could take almost any cocktail recipe and substitute the base spirit with applejack. Then they proved it with the Marconi Wireless:

1-3/4 oz. applejack

3/4 oz. sweet vermouth

2 dashes orange bitters

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Made it flipping between the Patriots and the Red Sox, using Laird's apple brandy and Punt e Mes, as well as both Fee's and Regan's orange bitters (one each). It's a swell little drink, particularly if you channel-cut an orange rind right over the glass to maximize the orange oil spray across the glass.

[lancastermike]

Now that I can get good cider I like a Minuteman. Nothing fancy, but real refreshing tome

In a tall glass over some ice:

2oz Lairds Bonded

6oz good cider

3 dashes bitters, I like Angostoura, but try what you got.

The Lairds blend would most likely work well here as well. Good fresh cider is the key

[TAPrice]

I cracked open my first bottle of applejack last night and give it a spin with a Marconi Wireless.

I used 2 oz. applejack, 1 oz. sweet vermouth, and 2 dashes orange bitters (1 each Regan and Fee's).

The results were surprising. The cocktail was light in color. Almost a translucent amber with a red cast. In the bottle, I didn't notice that that the applejack was so much lighter in color than bourbon, my preferred mixer for Manhattans. Also, my Manhattans have a ruby color. I expected the vermouth to dominate more and make the drinker more red. Enough about the appearance.

The taste was either delicate or light, depending on your perspective. It does seem to be a great fall drink, with the apple and orange taste. Or maybe a holiday drink. Perhaps this could be my Thanksgiving cocktail.

I'm surprised it wasn't more assertive and at first I was a little disappointed. But it's a nice drink when you want something lighter and I suspect it would be popular with people who don't like an assertive liquor taste (my wife, for example).

[slkinsey]

Todd, did you use blended or bonded applejack? The blended product (comes in a bottle that looks like this) is only around 35% apple brandy blended with neutral spirits and a little apple wine. It has a much lighter flavor and color compared to the bonded product (comes in a bottle that looks like this, which is 100 proof and 100% apple brandy.

[TAPrice]

I used the blended product. My local grocery store didn't have the bonded. In fact, I'm not sure that it's sold in the area.

[eje]

From the Laird's website, it looks like, along with the AppleJack, at least one of the Laird's Old Apple Brandies is available in New Orleans.

Find a Distributor

They don't really seem to list the bonded or 100 proof, so it may be a special order item. I know it isn't carried very widely in CA, except at specialty liquor stores and some of the warehouse type chains.

edit - I would just drop Laird's a note, and see if they know of someone who carries it in your area. The regular applejack is OK; but, the 100 proof, for something like $4 more a bottle, is much more apple forward and assertive.

Edited October 15, 2007 by eje (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

My experience is that any store that carries the blended stuff can get the bonded, it's just a matter of wether they care enough.

-Andy

[TAPrice]

Roughly how much more expensive is the bonded? I bought the blended for a little over $11.

[eje]

Out here, the blended AppleJack is around $15 and Laird's bonded (100 proof) Apple Brandy is $19.

I've also heard good things about Clear Creek's Apple Brandy, aged 2 years and around $25.

The aged apple brandies are significantly more expensive. The Laird's 12 year is around $60 and the Clear Creek 8 year $40.

[lancastermike]

If you can get the Laird's Bonded I urge you to do so. I made sidecars with it the other night and they were much better than ones I have made in the past with the blend. I have a little of the blend left and other than mixing it with cider I'm not sure I will use it again.

In PA the Laidrs's bonded is a special order item, but it well worth it

Edited October 15, 2007 by lancastermike (log)

[David Santucci]

If you like your drinks on the dry side, as I do, I would recommend seeking out Laird's "Old Apple Brandy". It is 7½ years old and bottled at 80 proof. For cocktails with lots of sweet and/or sour, the bonded stuff is fine, but if you're going to mix a cocktail that mostly applejack, the extra few years of aging really make a difference in the final product.

Edited October 16, 2007 by David Santucci (log)

[kvltrede]

My experience is that any store that carries the blended stuff can get the bonded, it's just a matter of whether they care enough.

-Andy

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Not in Chicago. Well, not at the biggest store in town anyway. Sam's is happy to special order but they couldn't get the bonded Laird's for me. They do carry the bonded Captain Applejack, fortunately, but despite what I was told by someone in the sales dept. at Laird's I don't believe these are the same product in different packages. The Captain Applejack is a noticeably inferior product, though not significantly so. The Captain Applejack is a little hotter and a little less "apple-y". The color's a little different too. I wouldn't think twice about drinking the bonded Laird's neat. The Captain Applejack gets an ice cube or two.

Admittedly, my sample is limited to a single bottle of each. I suppose the difference could be a matter of the bottles being the result of different batches.

Kurt

[eje]

Picked up a small bottle of the Clear Creek young Apple Brandy yesterday along with a new bottle of the Laird's Bonded and a bottle of Morice Calvados Pays D'Auge. I think these are all young apple brandies, so it will be interesting to compare them along with the Germain-Robin Apple Brandy I've been mixing with lately.

Initial impressions of the Clear Creek are that it is pretty young and hot on the tongue. It was tasty mixed in a cocktail.

Hmm... I see along with Calvados, Bénédictine is also produced in the Normandy region of France. Anyone experimented with Calvados (or Apple Brandy) and Bénédictine? I don't see any recipes which combine the two in the Cocktaildb.

[mkayahara]

Hmm...  I see along with Calvados, Bénédictine is also produced in the Normandy region of France.  Anyone experimented with Calvados (or Apple Brandy) and Bénédictine?  I don't see any recipes which combine the two in the Cocktaildb.

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Isn't a Widow's Kiss made with both of those? It's one of my favourite nightcaps...

[eje]

Yep, you're right!

I missed it when I was scanning the list of cocktails.

Though, hmmm... One ounce of apple brandy, 3/4 oz of Benedictine, 3/4 oz of Yellow Chartreuse, and a dash of bitters sounds awfully sweet.

I guess I was thinking more along the lines of the Vieux Carre or Cocktail a la Louisiane.

[bostonapothecary]

Yep, you're right!

I missed it when I was scanning the list of cocktails.

Though, hmmm...  One ounce of apple brandy, 3/4 oz of Benedictine, 3/4 oz of Yellow Chartreuse, and a dash of bitters sounds awfully sweet.

I guess I was thinking more along the lines of the Vieux Carre or Cocktail a la Louisiane.

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widow's kiss is a 2:1:1 + bitters... i had it last at green street's chartreuse event... one of the best drinks i've ever had...

under the golden ratio all spirits still get equal footing... delicious.

i think that apple brandy is a great foil for singlemalt scotches in a vieux carre

Edited October 17, 2007 by bostonapothecary (log)

[eje]

Oh, huh, 2-1-1 is what it is in the Savoy Cocktail Book. Wonder where that rather sweet sounding Cocktaildb Widow's Kiss recipe came from?

So many cocktails to try.

Edited October 17, 2007 by eje (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

I normally do 2 dashes Angostura and make the drink very small (2 oz total) and I find it scarcely sweeter than a de la Louisiane, both of which are perfect for after dinner.

-Andy

[bostonapothecary]

I normally do 2 dashes Angostura and make the drink very small (2 oz total) and I find it scarcely sweeter than a de la Louisiane, both of which are perfect for after dinner.

-Andy

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these sweet drinks are making me curious. sugar is a serious flavor enhancer but can so easily hit the cloying point of no return.

i think i will make a standard 2:1 manhattan, measure its sugar content and then compare it to a 2:1:1 widow's kiss. who wants to put a bet down on what % more sweet in brix it is? it could be 15 to 20% sweeter...

creole shrub is 36 brix. that is madness to me... sweet vermouth is 25... who knows where benedictine and yellow chartreuse fall in between...

[mkayahara]

Brix aside, I think there are other factors that affect perceived sweetness, like the bitters. (Sour, too, but that doesn't apply in this case.) I use green Chartreuse in my Widow's Kisses (Widows' Kisses?), and while it's sweet, it's never struck me as being cloying, even all on its own. Benedictine, on the other hand, I find to be cloying unless it's mixed. (Yellow Chartreuse isn't available in Ontario, so I haven't had enough of it to know how sweet it is.)

Anyway, I'd be interested to see your results. Let me be the first to bet that the Widow's Kiss is the sweeter of the two!

[Kent Wang]

Picked up a small bottle of the Clear Creek young Apple Brandy yesterday along with a new bottle of the Laird's Bonded and a bottle of Morice Calvados Pays D'Auge.  I think these are all young apple brandies, so it will be interesting to compare them along with the Germain-Robin Apple Brandy I've been mixing with lately.

Initial impressions of the Clear Creek are that it is pretty young and hot on the tongue.  It was tasty mixed in a cocktail.

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Is this the same as "CLEAR CREEK APPLE EAU DE VIE [uSA] 375ML 21.67"? I'm thinking not. Would an apple eau de vie go well with Laird's bonded, to make a super-applelicious drink?

[eje]

Is this the same as "CLEAR CREEK APPLE EAU DE VIE  [uSA]  375ML  21.67"? I'm thinking not. Would an apple eau de vie go well with Laird's bonded, to make a super-applelicious drink?

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I dunno, Clear Creek makes a few apple products.

Clear Creek Apple

One is a 2 year aged apple brandy and the other is a 8 year old apple brandy. They also do an apple brandy with an apple in a bottle.

They all say "Eau de Vie de Pomme" at some place on the label.

The two year apple brandy seems a bit close to the Laird's bonded to add much interest to a cocktail. The 8 year is closer to a Calvados, with prominent oak flavors.

[eje]

these sweet drinks are making me curious. sugar is a serious flavor enhancer but can so easily hit the cloying point of no return.

i think i will make a standard 2:1 manhattan, measure its sugar content and then compare it to a 2:1:1 widow's kiss. who wants to put a bet down on what % more sweet in brix it is? it could be 15 to 20% sweeter...

creole shrub is 36 brix. that is madness to me... sweet vermouth is 25... who knows where benedictine and yellow chartreuse fall in between...

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After trying the 2-1-1 Widow's Kiss, I'm gonna say, at least 20%, maybe more. Though, it is pretty tough to judge percentages. To me the Widow's Kiss is is much closer to the Bijou than a Manhattan. Bijou cocktails are borderline too sweet for me.

I would also bet that Yellow Chartreuse is pretty close to clement creole shrubb in brix.