How traditionalists and innovators are revolutionizing — and lifting — America’s spirits.
Steven Grasse, founder of Tamworth Distilling & Mercantile on the edge of New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest, told me that his goal also is to simultaneously “restore tradition and innovate.†Grasse is a spectacularly successful former advertising executive. Among his accomplishments: turning Sailor Jerry from a clothing line based on the work of a tattoo artist into a spiced rum and combining cucumber and rose petals with juniper to make Hendrick’s Gin. Both are now established global brands.
With a state-of-the-art still built by our friends at Vendome, and a 72-acre organic farm, Grasse sees himself as the “Willy Wonka of booze.†He views his spirits as agricultural products: “farm to table, grain to glass.†His goal is to create a “utopian farm community†in the New England Transcendentalist tradition but, he assures me, “I have enough business savvy to connect to commerce and sell what we produce.†He adds: “Craft distilleries generally make one thing. We’re making so many things — some very weird, some very cool. We’re experimenting with mushrooms, we’re fermenting milk, we’re seeing what we can do with forest moss. The idea is to be in a place where we can forage. We try a few barrels and see what happens.â€
To see full article: http://spectator.org/articles/63410/whiskey-rebellion-and-bourbon-restoration