CHARTREUSE - Prestigious Liqueur of the 9th Centenary - 2023 Edition - 47% ABV
The Order of the Chartreuse had existed for over 500 years when, in 1605, at a Chartreuse monastery in Vauvert, a historic suburb of Paris, the monks received a precious gift from Duke François Hannibal d'Estrées: an ancient manuscript of an "Elixir" nicknamed the "Elixir of Long Life." This manuscript was very likely the work of a 16th-century alchemist, combining deep knowledge of rare herbs with the skilled art of blending, infusing, and macerating nearly 130 aromatic and medicinal plants to create a tonic of unique harmony. The manuscript's recipe was so complex that only certain portions were initially understood and applied at Vauvert. At the beginning of the 18th century, this manuscript was transferred to the Order's Mother House, La Grande Chartreuse, perched in the mountains near Grenoble. The Monastery's Apothecary, the famous Brother Jérôme Maubec, managed to decipher this mystery and in 1737 developed the precise formula defining the preparation of this Elixir, finalized in 1764. In 1903, the Chartreuse distillery was nationalized by the French government, leading to the monks' expulsion. However, after bankruptcy in 1929, the monks recovered the Chartreuse brand and returned to their original distillery, built in 1860 at Fourvoirie near the Monastery, where they passionately resumed production of the authentic Chartreuse liqueurs. In 1935, a landslide almost entirely destroyed Fourvoirie, leading to the transfer of production to Voiron, where production continues today with unchanging expertise.
The careful selection, precise grinding, and secret blending of rare herbs, aromatic plants, and essential medicinal ingredients for the liqueurs are meticulously carried out in the monastery by two devoted monks. Once this precious blend is made, the ingredients are transported to Voiron where they are placed in a traditional still for slow maceration in rigorously selected pure alcohol. This step is followed by a highly precise distillation. The resulting liqueurs are then aged for several years in immense oak barrels within a unique aging cellar recognized worldwide for its long maturation and excellence, which imparts to each drop aromas of incomparable richness and depth.
The Liqueur of the 9th Centenary was created in 1984 to honor the 900th anniversary of the Chartreuse Monks, marking the historic foundation in 1084 of the Monastery of La Grande Chartreuse, the cradle of an exceptional monastic and spiritual tradition.
