Chartreuse V.E.P. green Vol.54% Cl.100

This Chatreause V.E.P. Green reports the year 2024 on the label that seals the box.

The Grand Chartreuse monastery is the first monastery of the Carthusian order founded in 1084 by Father Bruno, the Ordre des Chartreux is currently one of the oldest orders of Christianity.

It is June 1084 and Bruno recognizes the place where the Charterhouse stands today as the place that God had indicated to him in San Pierre de Chartreuse near Grenoble at 1190 meters above sea level at the foot of the Alps.

The monastery cannot be visited today, the Carthusians are cloistered monks.

The monastery can however be reached on foot with a 30 minute walk from the parking lot.

A museum of the history of the monastery and the order is the only part that can be visited.

The Carthusian order was born from the desire for radicality in following the Benedictine rule, of 7 young monks.

The Chartreuse remained a place of silence and prayer until the French Revolution when in 1792 it was closed and sacked like most French abbeys.

The monks returned in 1816 and were expelled again in 1906 following the French anticlerical policies.

Only in 1940 did the Carthusian mother house have its monks back, until today.

In 1810, Emperor Napoleon decided that the secret recipe of the elixir must be presented to the Minister of the Interior as the elixir would be managed by the State.

Mr. Liotard, who had been entrusted with the recipe by the monks imprisoned by the revolutionaries, responded to the Ministry's manuscript demanding the surrender of the secret recipe by writing the word "Refused" on the back. After Mr. Liotard's death, the documents returned to the Grande Chartreuse Monastery to which the monks returned in 1816.

In 1838, the formula was adapted to produce a sweeter and less alcoholic liqueur, Chartreuse Jaune, 40 degrees. In 1903, the Carthusians were expelled from France, for them the production of this liqueur was at that time the best source of sustenance, so they started a distillery in Tarragona in Spain for the production of liqueurs. During this same period, the French state sold their brand to a distillery that created the new brand “Fermière de la Grande Chartreuse”. The company, whose production had nothing to do with the real Chartreuse, ceased its activity in 1929.

The monks resumed their distillation in France at their former Fourvoirie distillery built in 1860 at the Grande Chartreuse Monastery.

The monks work in the greatest secrecy and are the only ones familiar with the details of production. Today, as yesterday, the formula remains a mystery that modern methods of investigation cannot penetrate. The liqueurs manufactured by the Chartreux Fathers do not contain chemical additives. Their colors come from the same plants used.

From the elixir aged in large wooden barrels, the monks obtain a Chartreuse of particularly remarkable quality; called “Chartreuse Vep” (Viellement estention particular).

The production, necessarily limited, is presented in 50 cl and 1 liter bottles, which faithfully reproduce those used in 1840.

Entering the Chartreuse cellars is like going back in time: it seems like being in the cellars of a great wine producer.

This liqueur production is considered among the most valuable in the world, this is due to the extraordinary blend of aromatic plants, but also to a wise aging of the liqueur, a practice now little widespread by large liqueur producers, because it is uneconomical.