Drink of the Week: Baltimore Spirits Co. Fumus Pumila

Modern producers embrace American apple brandy’s 17th-century roots. This wider return to heritage is only part of what sets Baltimore Spirits Company’s unaged apple brandy apart. For Fumus Pumila, a “wood-smoked spirit distilled from apples,” the distillery looked south of the border, finding inspiration in traditional mezcal production methods. 

The distillery uses raw apple juice sourced from an orchard just north of Baltimore for the spirit’s base. Then they smoke the peels and pomace leftover from orchard’s initial pressing. Afterward, they add the fruit matter to the juice during a multi-day, open-top fermentation. Double-distilled in copper pots, Fumus Pumila is distilled through to the tails, which are then used to dilute the spirit to 100 proof. The low-proof tails are rich in oils and phenols, which give the spirit texture and smoky aromatics.

The final product, bottled straight off the still, is deliciously oily yet light. Its fruity aromatics branch outside the orchard into herbaceous banana accented with clove. With notes of golden apple and red licorice accented by the peppery spice of smoke, Fumus Pumila is an innovative take on American apple brandy perfect for cocktail experimentation. $34.99, oldtowntequila.com