The Stone Fence traces it’s origins back to the Revolutionary War, where it served as a “savage mixture” of rum and hard cider. This isn’t your modern rum either, this is gnarly, unrefined, New England rums (as frequently used as currency as drink). Roughly one hundred years later, Jerry Thomas republishes this drink as a bourbon cooler. Almost a century and half since, this is one of the few drinks that calls for apple cider, so should you have it on your short list for fall?
Stone Fence
We’ll present the Stone Fence in two ways, one reflecting the original Jerry Thomas recipe, and the other showing a more modern, gentle riff on the classic.
The original Stone Fence is dry, strong, and bourbon forward. While the spicing of the bourbon’s oak comes through, the cider adds a bit of levity. The sweetness is really completely subdued. The result is an aggressively strong drink that begs for strong hard cider to temper it.
The more contemporary Stone Fence is full of apples and spicy, oaky, bourbon with a slight bite. Unlike the original version, this is more of a sipper, where the bourbon plays nice with the apple cider, and displays a nice balance between the two. The result is that as it dilutes, the sweetness combines between the two and opens up both the bourbon and the fresh pressed apple notes of the cider.
Drink Notes & Recommendations
The original drink was described as a “savage mixture”, and that’s an assessment we could probably agree on. If you like your drink boozy, definitely feel free to enjoy the original. For those looking for something softer, the dilution in the modern version that used non-alcoholic cider is your best bet. Bear in mind, it’s still pretty booze forward.
- Bourbon – The recommendation here is bonded bourbon, but for modern palates, this is probably going to be a bit aggressive. Feel free to turn things down and reach for something like Buffalo Trace or Maker’s Mark. If you decide to go higher, we suggest the good old fashioned Wild Turkey 101 or Old Forester Signature.
- Apple Cider –
- Hard Cider – If you’re choosing to use hard cider, we highly recommend you choose one that’s unfiltered and around 5-6% ABV (as this is boozy enough as it is). This is going to be some what of a local exercise, as cider distribution is pretty localized. If you have to, Angry Orchard kind of works, but it suggests that non-alcoholic local cider is almost certainly going to have an advantage.
- Non-Alcoholic Cider – Using your freshest local cider is the best way to get the best results. We used a friend’s family farms cider, but your local grocery should work just fine.
- Optional Ingredients – There a number of tweaks for this recipe, see below for ways you can make adjustments:
- Base Changes: Either Rye or Rum are acceptable her based on the standard. For rum, we recommend using something aged to bring out the caramel and spice notes to join the apple cider.
- Bitters: To add more depth, consider a dash of Angostura bitters. This will work better in the non-alcoholic version.
- Sweetener: If you want to take the edge off, consider using a ¼ oz of Maple Syrup
- Garnish – As apples should be in season, an apple fan is ideal, but mint can be used as well for aromatic purposes.