I recently taught a course on hard cider, and ancillary alcoholic apple products, including a brandy from Dad's Hat in Bristol, PA, made by Herman Mahalich. There are only a half a dozen people who know as much about distilling history as Herman does. If you get the chance, spending any time with Herman is always an educational as well as an entertaining visit. Love Dad’s Hat. Love, Herman. One of the premiere craft distillers in America.
Now there is great confusion about the difference between apple brandy and applejack. And I am not a fan of the current TTB laws separating them. Applejack is traditionally a specific type of American apple brandy, but today the main difference lies in whether neutral grain spirits are blended into the bottle. Apple Brandy is classified as a spirit distilled entirely from fermented apple juice or hard cider and aged in oak barrels, containing at least 40% ABV (80 proof). Applejack was historically made via "freeze-jacking" (freezing hard cider and removing the ice), modern commercial applejack (like Laird's Blended Applejack) is often a blend of apple brandy (around 35%) and neutral grain spirits (around 65%).
According to Cornell Law School, "The most significant modern change to applejack regulations occurred in 1972 under the Federal Alcohol Administration (FAA) Act.During the late 1960s and early 1970s, consumer preferences shifted heavily toward lighter spirits like vodka and gin, causing a decline in traditional "brown" spirits. To stay competitive, the historic Laird & Company distillery petitioned the federal government to alter the legal definition of applejack. After a four-year process, the government established a new Standard of Identity for Blended Applejack, legally defining it as a mixture containing at least 20% apple brandy and up to 80% neutral grain spirits."
This law rankles many craft distillers, who would prefer to call their much purer American apple spirit Applejack. Some argue that pure apple brandy aged in former whiskey barrels should be allowed to be called applejack, and that this blended spirit Laird's is pushing has adulterated the category. Much as I love the idea that Lair's is among the oldest distillers in America, and has survived the Civil War and Prohibition, I think the change they wrought, for their own corporate benefit, has robbed America of it's history. I would hope that the laws are adjusted in the future to create two categories - blended apple jack versus non-blended applejack.
Dad's Hat Apple Brandy is a small-batch, single-barrel spirit, distilled from local apple cider sourced from Manoff Market Cidery in Solebury, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The spirit is aged for more than two years in used Dad's Hat Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey barrels. This brandy has notes of fresh and baked apples, caramel, pepper, vanilla, and caramel, as well as notes of toasted oak. An exceptional Apple Brandy. One of the best in North America. A trult quality product. Dad's Hat Apple Brandy is apples, history, and taste in a glass.