During a recent trip to my local wine merchant, a vintage bottle of Chartreuse caught my eye – as did the price tag: US$4,295. This once-obscure French liqueur is having a moment with collectors and bartenders alike.
Crafted in the French Alps by silent Carthusian monks, the spirit’s origin dates to an alchemical recipe for an ‘elixir of long life’ given by Duke François-Annibal d’Estrées to the head of the Carthusian order in 1605. The monks used their knowledge of medicinal plants to fine tune the recipe, which they produced at their headquarters in the Monastery of the Grande Chartreuse outside Grenoble in eastern France. It’s still produced by lay brothers attached to the order, each of whom works on a small part of the elixir; the complete recipe of 130 plant products is known only to two monks.
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