A family-owned distillery in Monmouth County with roots dating back to 1698 is marking a deep connection to American history as the country approaches its 250th birthday.<\/p>\n
Laird and Company, based in Colts Neck, is recognized as the first licensed distillery in the United States and produces applejack, a fruit brandy considered America\u2019s first native spirit.<\/p>\n
The business traces its beginnings to a Scottish family that settled in the area and began distilling near the Colts Neck Inn.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy ancestors arrived here from Scotland, in 1698, we settled here in Monmouth County,\u201d says Lisa Laird-Dunn, President.<\/p>\n
The distillery has remained in the same family for generations, now spanning up to the 10th generation continuing the work.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere we are today with our eighth, ninth and 10th generation that are working and, preserving our legacy and heritage,\u201d says Laird-Dunn,<\/p>\n
The product has been tied to key moments in American history, including use during the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n
Laird\u2019s applejack was also associated with figures such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson.<\/p>\n
Production has evolved over time, though the process still includes sourcing apples, distilling and aging before bottling in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
Today, about a quarter-million bottles are produced each year and distributed from the Colts Neck facility.<\/p>\n
Family members say the brand remains closely tied to both state and national identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, you know, we are New Jersey first and then America second,\u201d laughs Laird-Dunn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A family-owned distillery in Monmouth County with roots dating back to 1698 is marking a deep connection to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-235203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}