Élixir Végétal of Grande Chartreuse - 1951-1953 - Voiron, 10 cl

Bottle in good general condition in its original wooden box, also in good condition. 

Wooden box : front and back labels in bad condition, torn. Back label Dubonnet. Original commercial flyer in the box. The box has been opened, not sealed anymore. 

Bottle : screw cap faded, with traces of corrosion. Under cap level 3,8 cm. No tax stamp.Label in good condition, torn on the bottom. Smooth and clean glass. Seal on the back. Dark shade. 

Reference:
E_672
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Product Details
E_672

Data sheet

Period
1951-1956
Format
10 cl
Color
Élixir Végétal
Ingredients
Alcohol, sugar, honey, 130 plants and flowers
Production origin
France, Voiron
% vol.
71 %
Producer
Pères Chartreux
Tasting Note
To bring out the flavors, Chartreuse is best served with ice. Traditionally considered an after dinner drink, Chartreuse is more and more being enjoyed as a long drink
Level
3,8 cm
Label
Good condition
Glass
Smooth and clean
Cap
Screw cap, damaged
Tax Stamp
No
Shade
Dark
Misc.
Original box
Producer: Les Pères Chartreux
Les Pères Chartreux

The famous liqueur made by Carthusian monks

 

In 1605, at a Chartreuse monastery of Vauvert, in Paris, the monks received a gift from Marshal d'Estrées, an already ancient manuscript from an “Elixir”, which no one knows the origin of. In this period, only a few monks and even fewer apothecaries understood the use of herbs and plants in the treatment of illness. The manuscript's recipe was so complex that only bits and pieces of it were understood and used by the monastery's apothecary, Frère Jerome Maubec. He finally unraveled the mystery and, in 1737, drew up the practical formula for the preparation of the Elixir.

The distribution and sales of this new medicine were limited. One of the monks of La Grande Chartreuse would load his mule with the small bottles that he sold in Grenoble and Chambéry, and other nearby villages. So tasty was this elixir that it was often used as a beverage rather than a medicine. Recognizing this, the monks, in 1764, adapted the elixir recipe to make a milder beverage, and which we know today as "Green Chartreuse" (55% alcohol). The success of this liqueur was immediate and its fame was no longer restricted to the area around La Grande Chartreuse.  In 1838, the Chartreuse distillers developed a sweeter form of Chartreuse: "Yellow Chartreuse" (43% alcohol)

In 1903, the French government nationalized the Chartreuse distillery. The monks were expelled. The monks took their secret recipe to their refuge in Tarragona, Spain, where they built a new distillery, and began producing their spirits with the same label, but with an additional label which said "Liqueur fabriquée à Tarragone par les Pères Chartreux" ("liqueur manufactured in Tarragone by the Carthusian Fathers"). After World War II, the government lifted the expulsion order, making the Carthusian monks once again legal French residents. Since the closure of the distillery of Tarragona in 1989, the liqueur is produced exclusively in Voiron using the herbal mixture prepared by two monks at Grande Chartreuse.

Discover the Chartreuse liqueur made by the monks, on Pleasure Wine. The French specialist in rare and ancient Chartreuses.

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