Scobeyville, New Jersey · Founded 1780 · Building: 1851 (current Scobeyville facility; construction documentation not independently reviewed)
A ten-generation New Jersey Applejack company whose family tradition reaches to 1698 and whose formal commercial business dates to 1780.
Laird & Company traces its formal commercial history to Robert Laird's 1780 Applejack transaction in Monmouth County, while family tradition traces apple-spirit production to William Laird's arrival from Scotland in 1698. The present Scobeyville facility began expanded commercial production in 1851 after a reported fire at the family's earlier Colts Neck site. Today, Lisa Laird-Dunn and Gerard Laird-Dunn lead the family company, which remains synonymous with American Applejack and apple brandy.
William Laird immigrated from Fife, Scotland, to Monmouth County. Family and historical accounts trace the Laird Applejack tradition to his early production of apple spirits in New Jersey.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine, "Cold Weather and Apples Were Two Things the American Colonies Needed ...," October 21, 2025; Laird & Company, "Our History," accessed September 1, 2026
Accounts place George Washington's request for the Laird family's apple-spirit recipe in the 1760s. The original letter was not reviewed in this entry.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine, October 21, 2025; Laird & Company, "Our History," accessed September 1, 2026; Bevvy, "The History of Applejack, According to Lisa Laird," June 26, 2018
Laird family history says brothers Robert and Richard Laird, serving in the Revolutionary War, supplied George Washington's troops with Applejack around the Battle of Monmouth. The specific military supply record remains to be verified.
Source: Laird & Company, "Our History," accessed September 1, 2026; Smithsonian Magazine, October 21, 2025; Bevvy, June 26, 2018
Robert Laird recorded the first commercial Applejack transaction or bill of sale, the date Laird & Company uses as its formal commercial founding.
Source: Wall Street Journal, "This Family Business Was Already Old When the U.S. ...," May 10, 2026; Smithsonian Magazine, October 21, 2025; Laird & Company official website
Historical summaries say a fire destroyed the family's earlier Colts Neck distillery site. Original fire, insurance, and property records have not yet been reviewed.
Source: Historic Towns of America, "Oldest distillery in America"; Difford's Guide, "Laird and Company"
Expanded commercial Applejack production began at the present Scobeyville facility after the reported fire at the earlier site.
Source: Historic Towns of America, "Oldest distillery in America"; Difford's Guide, "Laird and Company"
National Prohibition began. Laird stopped Applejack distillation and shifted to sweet cider, applesauce, pectin, and other apple products.
Source: Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2026; Smithsonian Magazine, October 21, 2025; Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails, "Laird's"
Before repeal, Laird received early authority to resume alcohol production: sources describe New Jersey DSP 1 and a federal medicinal-spirit contract or permit. The precise legal document, date, and scope remain to be verified from original government records.
Source: Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails, "Laird's"; Smithsonian Magazine, October 21, 2025; Difford's Guide, "Laird and Company"
Laird & Company remains an active family-led Applejack and apple-brandy company, with Lisa Laird-Dunn identified as CEO/president and Gerard Laird-Dunn as vice president of operations.
Source: News 12 New Jersey, "Nation's oldest distillery reflects 250 years of American ...," May 18, 2026; Laird & Company, "Continuing a Legacy," April 10, 2025
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The Smithsonian, News 12, Liquor.com, Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails, and Laird's own materials all identify Laird as the nation's first licensed distillery or holder of License No. 1. The historical distinction is strongly corroborated, but this review did not retrieve the original federal 1780 license or precisely resolve how that designation relates to the separate 1933 New Jersey DSP 1 permit.
The Oxford Companion says two Robert Laird nephews were awarded the state's first new distilling permit in 1933, making the Scobeyville facility New Jersey DSP 1, and also received a federal contract for medicinal spirit. This is distinct from the company's older License No. 1 tradition and should not be mislabeled a Volstead Act permit or treated as proof of continuous distilling through Prohibition.
The Smithsonian reports that Washington wrote to the Laird family in the 1760s asking for the recipe for its "cyder spirit," and the company repeats the tradition. The claim is stronger than unsupported folklore, but this review did not inspect the original Washington correspondence or archival transcription, so it remains plausible rather than documented.
Laird's current history says Robert and Richard Laird supplied Washington's troops at the Battle of Monmouth, and Smithsonian and Liquor.com repeat a broader Continental Army connection. The family’s Revolutionary-era military participation is credible, but this review did not locate quartermaster records, military contracts, pay records, or contemporaneous correspondence proving the exact supply arrangement.
Historical sources say Laird stopped Applejack distillation during national Prohibition and instead made sweet cider, applesauce, pectin, and other apple products. The company retained a business presence, but that does not amount to uninterrupted alcohol-distillery operation.
Current Laird materials describe the business as spanning ten generations and identify Lisa Laird-Dunn as CEO and Gerard Laird-Dunn as vice president of operations. The claim refers to family leadership and lineage; exact legal ownership shares and corporate structure were not reviewed.
Laird & Company's 1698 family Applejack tradition is the same as its formal commercial-company founding date.
The family traces apple-spirit production to William Laird's 1698 immigration to Monmouth County, but Laird & Company uses Robert Laird's 1780 recorded commercial transaction as its formal business founding. The present Scobeyville facility began expanded production in 1851.
Source: Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2026; Smithsonian Magazine, October 21, 2025; Laird & Company official website
Laird & Company distilled Applejack continuously through Prohibition.
Laird remained in business during Prohibition by making sweet cider, applesauce, pectin, and other apple products, but historical sources say it stopped Applejack distillation. It resumed alcohol production under early 1933 New Jersey and federal authority.
Source: Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2026; Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails, "Laird's"; Smithsonian Magazine, October 21, 2025
Federal License No. 1 and New Jersey DSP 1 are the same 1933 Volstead Act permit.
Laird's historic License No. 1 distinction is associated with its early federal licensing and formal 1780 company history. Sources separately describe New Jersey DSP 1 and a federal medicinal-spirit contract or permit in 1933, before Repeal. The original records should be reviewed before collapsing these separate legal milestones into one document or calling either a Volstead Act permit.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine, October 21, 2025; Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails, "Laird's"; Difford's Guide, "Laird and Company"
The current Scobeyville facility is Laird's original colonial distillery building.
Historical summaries place the family's earlier distillery at the Colts Neck Inn site and say it burned in 1849. Expanded commercial production then began at the present Scobeyville facility in 1851. The original fire and construction records have not yet been independently reviewed.
Source: Historic Towns of America, "Oldest distillery in America"; Difford's Guide, "Laird and Company"
Laird & Company survived by treating Applejack not as a frozen colonial artifact but as an adaptable apple business. During Prohibition, the company stopped making Applejack and produced sweet cider, applesauce, pectin, and related goods; in 1933 it gained early authority to resume alcohol production for medicinal purposes and came back to market ahead of many rivals. That ability to preserve family identity while changing products, facilities, and distribution channels helps explain a lineage that now spans ten generations.
Laird & Company traces its formal commercial business to Robert Laird's 1780 recorded Applejack transaction in Monmouth County, while the family tradition reaches to William Laird's apple-spirit production after his 1698 immigration from Scotland. After a reported fire at the earlier Colts Neck site, expanded commercial production began at the present Scobeyville facility in 1851. The company stopped distilling Applejack during Prohibition, made other apple products, and resumed alcohol production under early 1933 authority.
Laird & Company is widely recognized as America's first licensed distillery and is strongly associated with the historic License No. 1 distinction. Its formal commercial history dates to 1780, while its family Applejack tradition reaches to 1698. That claim is different from being the oldest continuously operating distillery: Laird stopped Applejack distillation during Prohibition, so this entry does not place it in an uninterrupted-distilling race.
The three dates describe different parts of Laird's history. The family traces Applejack-making to William Laird's 1698 arrival in New Jersey; 1780 is the company’s formal commercial start through Robert Laird's recorded transaction; and 1851 marks expanded production at the current Scobeyville facility after a reported fire destroyed the earlier Colts Neck distillery. None of those dates alone proves continuous distilling at one building from 1698 to today.
Laird & Company remained in business during Prohibition, but historical sources say it stopped making Applejack and instead produced sweet cider, applesauce, pectin, and other apple products. In 1933, before national repeal, sources say Laird received New Jersey DSP 1 and federal medicinal-spirit authority that allowed alcohol production to resume. The company’s business continuity should not be confused with uninterrupted distilling.
The Smithsonian and Laird & Company say George Washington wrote to the Laird family in the 1760s requesting its "cyder spirit" recipe. Washington's own interest in apple spirits is well established, but this review did not inspect the original letter or archival transcription. The story is credible and widely reported, but it remains a historical claim awaiting direct primary-source review.
1 Laird Rd, Scobeyville, NJ 07724
(732) 542-0122
Laird & Company is an operating spirits company in the Scobeyville section of Colts Neck Township. Confirm visitor access, tasting availability, current on-site production, and the published phone number directly before making a special trip.