Based on a description of a spirit listed in an executioner’s notebook from the 1580’s, Ex Gratia is a style of liqueur known as Gnpi. Gnpi is made from herbs including wormwoods that grow in the alpine regions of Europe. What makes Ex Gratia different from other Gnpi is that it contains several exotic herbs and spices including “Black Spice”, an Asian herb that was highly prized during the middle-ages in Europe and the Middle East. This type of spirit was used by apothecaries for a variety of purposes and was typically given by executions to the condemned as a last act of kindness… to all but those guilty of the most heinous of crimes.