Don't knock it if you haven't tried it. The correspondent quotes the entire poem, and I am moved to respond to it because I have some strong feelings on the subject. First of all, if I recall correctly the poem complained about the quality of the apples, and not about the pie itself. Of course, that isn't the whole story. I must further contend that both Welsch and the person who wrote the letter have a lot of nerve, knocking something without giving it a proper trial.
Many people think that applejack is distilled.
If it were, it'd be Calvados. No, it's jacked. I don't know for a fact whether it takes only one night. If you don't want to make alcohol there is one other pleasant way to deal with an excess of juice, and that's to make boiled cider from it.