The Stone Fence from The Fish House. (John Blackie/jblackie@pnj.com)

WILLIAM MORSE • SPECIAL TO THE NEWS JOURNAL • JANUARY 12, 2011

Could drinking whiskey actually show one’s patriotism? It could if you refer back to the colonists’ fight for independence. In 1775, Ethan Allen was preparing for a nighttime raid on the British-held Fort Ticonderoga, along with his Green Mountain Boys (a group of volunteer soldiers taking their name from the Green Mountains in Vermont). Fort Ticonderoga was in the Lake Champlain region and was a strategic thoroughfare between Canada and the revolting colonies. If captured, it could be used to trap the British forces in Boston. Being outnumbered and out-equipped, it would take a great deal of courage from the soldiers. The men gathered at their headquarters, the Catamount Tavern in Castleton, and reportedly summoned up their courage by drinking large amounts of hard cider with generous shots of rum. They called this drink the “Stone Fence.”

It was pretty strong stuff, but then again, that’s what the fight for independence called for. It’s unlikely that the drink aided them in their fight, but they did, in fact, overtake the fort.

This early cocktail was popular throughout the Northeast. In the early 1800s, with rum becoming harder to obtain, rye whiskey was used in its place. Apple trees were abundant across the Northeast, which made the cider easily accessible. But beginning in the mid-1800s, the temperance movement encouraged the replacement of hard cider with sweet cider, which became the mixer of choice. This cocktail remained popular throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, until prohibition arrived in 1919-1920.

With the colder months upon us, I think a slight variation of this drink is appropriate. While you can use whiskey, apple brandy or even scotch, I like to make mine with spiced rum mixed with gently warmed cider.