America turns 250 today. Laird & Co., a family-run distillery in Colts Neck, New Jersey, had already been in business for 78 years when the founding fathers put their names on the Declaration of Independence—and 328 years on, it’s still making apple brandy the same way it did in 1698, still owned by Lairds.Founder William Laird began distilling spirits in 1698, and the business was formalised in 1780, in the middle of the Revolution, according to a Wall Street Journal profile of the company. Family lore says George Washington was partial to Laird’s Applejack brandy, and two Laird brothers reportedly fought alongside him at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778—two years after the Declaration was signed on this day in 1776.
A colonial distillery that outlasted Prohibition, two world wars and Covid
The company’s arc mirrors the country’s own—from a farm economy to a national market, through Prohibition, wartime mobilisation and modern consolidation. Laird survived Prohibition by pivoting to applesauce and sweet cider, then landed Federal Liquor License No. 1 in 1933 to keep distilling apple brandy for medicinal use. During World War II, it made pectin for military food rations. When Covid hit, it switched to hand sanitiser.Today it is the leading seller of American apple brandy in the US and abroad, with distribution across 18 overseas markets including France, Italy, the UK, Australia and China. The recipe hasn’t changed. Nor has the apple-crushing machine or the charred-oak barrels used to age the brandy—both the same type the company used three centuries ago.
Nine Lairds, one board, and the 4% club most family businesses never reach
The entire company is owned by nine members of the Laird family. Lisa Laird Dunn, its first female CEO, told the WSJ that survival came down to protecting the foundation rather than chasing trends. The Small Business Administration estimates that just 4% of family businesses make it past the fourth generation. Laird is well beyond that count.The family has had its scares. In 1973, majority owner Jack Laird sold a 90% stake to two liquor companies as brown-spirit sales cratered in the US. Two decades later, a family investor group raised a $10 million bank loan to buy the outside owners out. Ownership has stayed inside the family since, with shares parked in trusts to keep them there for the next generation.Lisa’s two Gen Z children, Laird Emilie Dunn and Gerard Laird-Dunn, are already in the business. The older Lairds lean on them for market and digital insights while they lean back for legacy and craft. First-quarter online sales, Gerard told the WSJ, are up 300% year-on-year.
