It was always far easier and more efficient to distill it in the regular way, which is how it was mostly done in Colonial and nineteenth-century America. The earliest use for “applejack” I can recall off the top of my head is for the stuff distilled from the “cheese” left over from pressing cider (which was made into “cider brandy”). So an apple grappa or marc. I don’t think the freeze stuff was a commercial product, but rather a
nonce thing you would do when it was really cold and you really wanted something—anything—stronger than cider.
But my brain might be sparky on this; I’ll check the archives.
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