New York’s Rootstock Spirits makes a two-year-old applejack aged in former bourbon barrels from a well-known Kentucky whiskey maker. This expression is bright and spicy, and it’s an excellent ...

“That .75-ounce of bourbon,” Ross recalls. “To be sure, I tried it with every type of spirit—rye, applejack, brandy—to really make sure that bourbon was the right fit. And it was.