James D. Bashford built several factories in Lyons, but the one that most remember is the cider and vinegar factory on Water Street. The brandy business was later sold to Jack Laird. The Lairds of Red Bank, N.J. are considered the oldest producer of applejack in the country. When the last barrels of applejack were made under Laird in Lyons, the factory was sold to the Speas Company of Kansas City, a national wholesale distributor. Under them a million gallons of cider was produced annually and apple brandy was manufactured each fall. In September 1968 the mill closed and on May 11,1976 it was destroyed by fire.
I'm not sure when the Hildick line of applejack was discontinued. I wish I knew to give the Hildick portion of this post a proper ending.
Curious as to why this particular spirit is known as applejack? According to the article Defining Moments in Hudson Valley Applejack from the Hudson Wine Magazine website dated January, 2020:
During the early Colonial Era in America, apple seeds from Europe were planted extensively, and almost every farm in the New World soon had its own apple orchard. After a harvest, surplus apples were pressed into cider, which was plentiful and cheap. Early settlers quickly came to favor cider and cider brandy, or “applejack,” which was traditionally made by allowing “hard,” or fermented, apple cider to freeze outside during the winter months. The layers of ice were removed and the liquid allowed to re-freeze—sometimes three or four more times—to concentrate the alcohol.
The word “applejack” itself is said to have been derived from the term “jacking,” an early term for freeze distillation. The resulting unfrozen liquid, however, was a crude and powerful drink, whose effect, it’s been noted, was like “a crack on the head with a hammer.”
What's the difference between applejack, apple brandy and blended applejack? The article Hudson Valley Applejack from the Hudson Valley + Capital Region Ultimate Cider + Apple Spirits Guide states:
The terms applejack and apple brandy are still synonymous (i.e., distilled from 100% apples), but new federal regulations allow for a “blended applejack” with up to 80 percent neutral grain spirits – a relic from the post-war years when consumers lost their taste for fruit brandy, and companies looked for cheaper ways to produce it.
Currently New York State is having a renaissance with the production of applejack and apple brandy. We'll see how the market for this American of spirits continues to grow in the next few years. With that in mind, let me take this post back to Hildick applejack brandy.
Hildick had a number of cool looking posters for their applejack brandy with cocktail recommendations on each one. Here are four that I came across online:
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