CHARTREUSE - Green - Santa Tecla Edition 2018 - 55%
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The Order of the Chartreuse had existed for over 500 years when, in 1605, at a Chartreuse monastery in Vauvert, a small suburb of Paris, the monks received a precious gift from Duke François Hannibal d'Estrées: an ancient manuscript listing an "Elixir" also called "Elixir of Long Life." This manuscript, most likely attributed to a 16th-century alchemist, revealed an in-depth knowledge of herbs and exceptional expertise in assembling, infusing, and macerating more than 130 plants to create a perfectly balanced tonic. However, the extreme complexity of the recipe only allowed fragments of it to be understood and used at Vauvert. In the early 18th century, this manuscript was transferred to the Mother House of the Order, La Grande Chartreuse, nestled in the mountains near Grenoble. The monastery's apothecary, Brother Jérôme Maubec, finally managed to unlock the secret and, in 1737, wrote the practical formula for preparing this elixir, which was definitively implemented in 1764. In 1903, the French government nationalized the Chartreuse distillery, forcing the monks to leave. After the 1929 bankruptcy, they regained ownership of the Chartreuse brand and resumed authentic production at the Fourvoirie distillery, built in 1860 near the monastery. In 1935, following a landslide that severely damaged the facility, production was transferred to Voiron, where it remains today.
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The rigorous selection, meticulous grinding, and secret blending of herbs, medicinal plants, and other ingredients used in the liqueur production are still carried out today in the monastery by two dedicated monks. Once assembled, the ingredients are transported to Voiron where they are first macerated in carefully selected alcohol, then precisely distilled. These unique liqueurs are then aged for several years in huge oak barrels, placed in a maturation cellar renowned for having some of the longest aging periods in the world, thus ensuring all the complexity and finesse of Chartreuse.
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In the late 1990s, the idea of a Chartreuse bottle specially designed and reserved for the population of Tarragona was born. This limited edition is sold exclusively during the Santa Tecla festivities in the city's shops. The very first version was presented during Santa Tecla 2000: the Yellow Chartreuse and Green Chartreuse were bottled in a flask featuring a back label bearing the official poster of the event. Since then, each year, about 4,000 bottles of Yellow Chartreuse and 1,000 bottles of Green Chartreuse are sold on the occasion of this emblematic celebration.
