By Alex Biese
COLTS NECK – This summer, it’s 5 o’clock all the time in Monmouth County.
Laird and Company, the operation based in the Scobeyville area of Colts Neck that holds the distinction of being America’s oldest distiller of spirits, has entered the booming market of ready-to-drink, or RTD, otherwise known as canned cocktails.
“Looking at what’s going on in the market today, being a smaller company, we try to adjust as quickly as we can but we needed to enter the RTD market. We just felt that it was an avenue (worth pursuing) because it was an avenue of growth,” said Laird and Company president Lisa Laird-Dunn.
The company introduced a pair of offerings in March, Laird’s American Mule and Laird’s Lisa’s Lemonade, followed in April by Five O’Clock Vodka Orange Crush and Five O’Clock Vodka Pink Lemonade from the company’s Five O’Clock brand.
“RTDs are growing, there’s a huge market,” Laird-Dunn said.
“It’s very convenient to pick up a cocktail that’s already prepared and in a can, especially during the summer months or spring months, when it’s warm and you’re outdoors and you’re golfing, boating” or headed to an outdoor event.
The company’s first RTD creation, the American Mule, is akin to the classic Moscow Mule cocktail – with a Central Jersey twist of apple brandy. With ginger liqueur and sparkling water, it clocks in at a mild 5.5% ABV.
“The Mule has always been a cocktail that our sales team has utilized in selling our brandy to on-premises accounts like bars and restaurants,” explained Gerard Laird-Dunn, Lisa’s son and the company’s vice president of operations. “And, when we were playing around with the idea of what was the first flavor, what was the first canned cocktail that we wanted to go to, Lisa threw out the idea of the Mule and I think it just made sense. Everyone knows the Mule from the Moscow Mule, so I said, ‘Let’s make an American Mule.’ ”
The company offers vodka-based adult beverages from its Five O’Clock Line, with fresh and vibrant flavors courtesy of the Vodka Orange Crush and Vodka Pink Lemonade. However, just as the American Mule eschews the traditional vodka in favor of apple brandy, the distiller best known for its Laird’s Apple Brandy and Laird’s Blended Applejack products based its Lisa’s Lemonade on both vodka and apple brandy. Such flavors, Lisa Laird-Dunn said, are what make the company unique in a crowded marketplace.
“It’s uniquely ours, it’s uniquely Laird’s, it’s how we stand out,” she said. “They’re all vodka, gin, tequila or whiskey-based, that’s every canned cocktail. There’s no other apple brandy-based canned cocktail RTD. And who better than Laird’s to make it?”
Following this initial quartet, the company plans to introduce more flavors in the future.
“We want to be smart in how we do it, I don’t want to just throw a ton out there,” said Gerard. “I want to make sure we’re calculated and I want to make sure that we’re still upholding quality. We still want to be proud of what we put out there.”
The article originally appeared in the May 23 – 29, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
