Grasse Dreams Up The Spirits, Feeds Them To Bigger Fish

Art In The Age of Mechanical Reproduction is a long name for a company that makes craft spirits and other handmade merchandise. But William Grant & Sons, the family-owned distiller headquartered in in the United Kingdom, isn’t bothered by the unconventional name. They want Art in the Age’s leading product, ROOT, and ROOT they shall have, for they’ve acquired the company from Steven Grasse and his brand consultancy Quaker City Mercantile.

ROOT is a rustic spirit with a full, rich smoky flavor, inspired by a Pennsylvania folk recipe, which eventually evolved into Root Beer. The recipe stems from Root Tea, an eighteenth century Native American recipe. Since its limited launch in 2009, ROOT has been adopted as a sipping drink and as a unique mixology ingredient.
Art in the Age will eventually feature a line of highly differentiated, organically certified spirits, and future releases are already in the works, including SNAP which, like ROOT, was inspired by a historical recipe: Pennsylvania Dutch black strap molasses ginger snap cookies.
The acquisition of Art in the Age by William Grant & Sons marks the next step in the ongoing relationship between Grasse and the independent, family-owned distiller. In the past years William Grant & Sons has worked with Grasse to develop two of its core brands: Grasse was an instrumental player in the successful launch of Sailor Jerry Rum and then Hendrick’s Gin.