Hello once again. It’s Friday and that means we’re cocktailing again. Now that it is mid September, it seems Fall is once again bearing down on all of us and all the telltale signs are here: the evening air is getting cooler, football is back and I already hate my fantasy team. Now, in the Before Times, this would probably mean trips out to orchards for apple picking and other fall related activities. For obvious reasons, that isn’t going to be a thing this year. If only there was something we could do about that…

Moving on.

This week’s drink is another one from my long backlog of drinks I’ve bookmarked and saved for later. Given how seasonally appropriate the ingredients are, I felt it was a good time to break out this concoction. From the PDT book, here is the Applejack Rabbit:

2 oz. Laird’s Bonded Apple Brandy

.75 oz. Lemon Juice

.75 oz. Orange Juice

.5 oz Deep Mountain Grade B Maple Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish

Playing the role of the Laird’s apple brandy this evening is Pommeau from Shortpath Distillery in Everett, MA.

Now, right off the bat I get a sweet apple nose. It isn’t overly strong, but the scent almost seems artificial. No citrus or maple notes come through at all.

The first sip starts out with a mix of orange and lemon juices, with apple sweetness adding depth and body underneath. I get a hint of brandy alcohol flavor coming in about midway through and mellows over the rest of the sip. I don’t really detect any of the maple syrup here. I suspect its function is to act as a counterbalance to the double citrus juice attack up front.

The more you sip this down, the more the apple starts to take over. By the end, I got a more pronounced sour apple flavor. I didn’t hate the finish, but the end definitely pushed this drink squarely into the one and done category.

(Banner image found here)