2023 Q2 Spirited VA - 12

DISTILLERIES
Laird & Company, North Garden:
Making a True American Spirit
From the nation's oldest distiller comes one
of the nation's oldest spirits.
S
cottish immigrant Alexander
Laird began distilling in New Jersey
in 1698. He produced applejack, using
the abundance of local apples. His apple
spirits became so renowned that George
Washington, not yet president but a
gentleman farmer and distiller, wrote
to the Laird family requesting the recipe.
The company's Virginia history began
in 1941 with the purchase of the Virginia
Fruit Distilling Company and its bountiful
orchards near the Shenandoah Valley.
" It was the heyday of applejack, " says
COO Lisa Laird Dunn of Laird's arrival
in the commonwealth. " Since we only
distill from fresh fruit, our production
was confined to the apple harvest
between August and December. In order
to increase production, the company
had to operate multiple distilleries. "
Eventually, as agricultural land
LAIRD & COMPANY PRODUCTS
* Laird's Old Apple Brandy, 7½ year old
* Laird's Straight Apple Brandy Bottled
in Bond, 100 Proof
* Laird's Blended Applejack
* Laird's Straight Applejack 86
* Laird's Apple Brandy Single Cask
Selection
* Laird's 10th Gen Apple Brandy Bottled
in Bond, Aged 5 Years
* Captain Apple Jack
disappeared in New Jersey, Laird &
Company shifted its distilling operations
entirely to Virginia, close to the delicious
fresh apples that are key to the spirit's
quality.
" This past distilling season we used 4
million pounds of Virginia apples, " says
Dunn. " When we run both a spring and
fall distillation, we will purchase 5.5 to
6 million pounds. "
The company still maintains a
presence in New Jersey, with a processing
and bottling facility, warehouse and
company historical archives.
Today, Laird & Company produces
the vast majority of American apple
brandy on the market.
Applejack ... or apple brandy?
The term " applejack " came from the
early American production of the spirit,
which used freeze distillation, called
The focus at Laird &
Company's North
Garden facility is
apples and the
resulting brandies
and applejacks.
" jacking. " As cider froze during cold
winter months, the producer would
remove the ice-which was water, not
hard cider-thus increasing the alcohol
content of the remaining liquid.
Applejack and apple brandy are
interchangeable, says Dunn. Blended
applejack, however, is different: it's a
blend of apple brandy and grain neutral
spirits.
" The Laird family petitioned for [the
legal definition of blended applejack]
in 1968 to accommodate the lightening
12 VIRGINIA ABC | ABC.VIRGINIA.GOV

http://ABC.VIRGINIA.GOV

2023 Q2 Spirited VA

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2023 Q2 Spirited VA - Cover1
2023 Q2 Spirited VA - Cover2
2023 Q2 Spirited VA - 1
2023 Q2 Spirited VA - 2
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2023 Q2 Spirited VA - Cover3
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