Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) is a spice in the Myristicaceae family native to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. Its warm, nutty flavor and scent make it a common companion ingredient to cinnamon and allspice.

The nutmeg we know and love is just one part - the seed - of the Myristica fragrans tree, a dark-leaved evergreen that grows in warm-weather environments like Penang Island in Malaysia and the Maluku islands of Indonesia, as well as on islands dotting the Caribbean.

The outermost layer of the nutmeg seed is known as mace, which has a flavor similar to but more delicate than that of nutmeg. Both spices are used frequently in cooking and baking, appearing in dishes like oxtail soup in Indonesia, jerk chicken in Jamaica, mulled wine and eggnog in regions across Europe and North America, and Caribbean cocktails like the Painkiller and Barbados rum punch. Nutmeg essential oil is also increasingly popular, used in both culinary and olfactory pursuits.

The English word nutmeg comes from the Latin word nux, meaning nut, and muscat, meaning musky. While the spice doesn't quite count as a legume, it most likely gets its name from the nutty aroma and flavor it adds to everything from stews to sweets. In fact, in the 12th century, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI had the streets of Rome fumigated with nutmeg to ensure a sweet-smelling environment for his coronation.

There is evidence pointing to the discovery of both nutmeg and mace as early as the first century AD, when Roman author Pliny the Elder wrote of a tree "bearing nuts with two flavors." In addition to the plant's unique flavor properties, nutmeg was prized by the social elite as a powerful hallucinogenic. While the spice produces no neurological response when consumed in small doses, if ingested raw or in oil form in large amounts, the botanical does have some serious psychoactive effects, not all of which are fun; nausea, dehydration, and palpitations are all on the laundry list of adverse effects from hitting the nog too hard.

Like clove, another spice native to the Maluku Islands, for a time nutmeg production in the East Indies was largely controlled by the Dutch. The Dutch had waged a bloody war to control nutmeg production, and took large quantities of the spice back to Holland to store it in a warehouse, often burning the plant to keep prices artificially high. It wasn't until negotiations over the Island of Manhattan were made that the Dutch traded what is now New York City for control over a nutmeg-producing island owned by the British.

Despite the spice's storied, sometimes troubled past, we love it today for its sweet, warm taste. When distilled, nutmeg gives AMASS Dry Gin a necessary subtle heat and lingering warmth on the palate.