My Wandering Eye is an ongoing series reacting to the rising prices in the bourbon world. We’ve reached a place where even average products have hit the range where they compete price-wise with other types of aged spirits. If I’m going to be asked to drop $40 to $70 on a mid-range bourbon, I might as well see what else I can get for that money. I hope to see if another spirits category offers something downright tasty in that price range. The goal isn’t to find cheap spirits but to maximize the quality I’m getting at a particular price point. The reviews in this series will all be written through a bourbon drinker’s lens.
I’m known amongst friends and family as the “absent-minded one.” Now, mind you, most of them don’t say it to my face. But you can tell that it is common knowledge among my family that if you want Eric to remember something, make sure that you tell his wife too. Or skip Eric entirely and just go straight to his wife.
Nothing proves my point on this more than the posts for this week. I mentioned on Tuesday that I didn’t have a clue exactly when or where I had purchased that whiskey. Well, I have one better today. In doing research for tonight’s post, I was looking for some of the older posts that I’d done for other Apple Brandy releases from Laird’s. I knew that I’d purchased them last year just to review them. There was a bottled-in-bond release and a seven-year-old release. I bought them online after seeing them used in a YouTube cooking show.
The problem was that I never did write about them. They’ve been sitting on my shelf waiting for me. Patiently. Never complaining. Honestly, they seem like a couple of nice chaps. As I said, I only noticed them when I went looking for what I said about the company last year, and…yeah.
So let’s dig into the people who are making Laird’s Apple Brandy and see why this one is called 10th Generation. According to the Laird & Company website, their story starts in 1698 when Alexander Laird arrived in North America from Scotland. It seems he was a distiller back home and took up the trade in New Jersey using locally abundant apples. There is a reason they claim to be America’s Oldest Distiller.
The Laird family had a small operation until around 1850 when a fire destroyed the Inn where they made their AppleJack. Before then, they’d had a reputation for good spirits. They are even mentioned in the diary of George Washington, who requested their recipe for “cyder spirits.” After the fire, they decided that since they were rebuilding, they might as well build big and started to explore a wider commercial production.
Since that time, they have followed the path of many of the distillers. They made due during Prohibition by selling non-alcoholic apple products and medicinal spirits for the government. They helped with the war effort in World War 2, not by making industrial alcohol as other distilleries did (though they may have done that too) but by making pectin from their apples to help preserve food for the war effort. These days they are still run by the Laird family. A member of the eighth generation is currently the president of the company.
Ok, so why is tonight’s whiskey named after the tenth generation? Well, here it is straight from the product description:
For over two centuries, nine generations of the Laird family have been intimately entwined with the production of America’s oldest spirit, Applejack. To commemorate the historic event of a tenth generation Laird continuing our legacy, we proudly introduce “Laird’s 10th Generation Apple Brandy”. We invite you to celebrate with the Laird family and enjoy a taste of American history in every sip of this artisanal, hand crafted brandy.
So, now that we know the story let’s learn about the important part. How does it taste?
Laird’s 10th Generation Apple Brandy – Bottled in Bond
Purchase Info: $45.49 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN
Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.03
Details: Five years old. 50% ABV. Bottled-in-Bond. DSP-NJ-1.
Nose: Dried apple, brown sugar, cinnamon.
Mouth: Nice and spicy. Dried apple, cinnamon, and vanilla.
Finish: Medium to long and warm. More apple, vanilla, and cinnamon.
Thoughts: This might be my favorite apple brandy I've had yet. It features a strong apple flavor throughout that is missing from many other apple brandies that I've had. Plus, unlike many that are bottled at 80° proof, Laird’s 10th Generation is Bottled-in-bond and has enough proof and heat to keep this BourbonGuy happy. Big fan of this one.
Look for the “forgotten two” next week to see if this is better or worse than those.
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