Vegetal
De La Grande Chartreuse
History
1084
Origins
Chartreuse® liqueurs take their name from the Carthusian Order, which in turn acquired its name from the place where Saint Bruno and his six companions decided to settle in 1084: the remote area of Chartreuse, a mountain in the heart of the French Alps. It was in this remote and austere location that a hermitage, a retreat, was built to live in solitude and community, in prayer and contemplation, in the silence of the monastery.
1257
Parisian monastery
In 1257, the Carthusians responded to the call of the King of France, Saint Louis, and founded a monastery in Paris, the Chartreuse Vauvert, a place surrounded by gardens and nurseries, where the monks took an interest in botany and the art of pharmacopoeia and thus became herbalists.
1605
Unknown manuscript
In 1605, Duke François-Annibal d’Estrées, who had faith in their knowledge and expertise, gave the Carthusians of Paris a manuscript of unknown origin containing a list of 130 plants, flowers, barks, spices, and roots, as well as a number of instructions for making an elixir of “long life.”
The date 1605 remains the most important in the history of Chartreuse!
Through inventiveness and perseverance, it was in 1764 that the Carthusians finalized and stabilized the recipe for “L’Elixir Végétal de la Grande Chartreuse,” a health product distributed to the local population and the basis for Chartreuse® liqueurs, created in 1840.
Over more than a century and a half, the Carthusian monks perfected the recipe for this legendary liqueur—celebrated for its remarkable virtues and singular aromatic complexity. From its early days in local markets and pharmacies to its place in modern cocktail bars, consumption habits have evolved, but the recipe remains unchanged.
Chartreuse and the United States
The first export of Chartreuse to the United States dates back to the mid-19th century.
As soon as it arrived on the market, Chartreuse was adopted by illustrious bartenders such as Harry Johnson, creator of the “Bijou” cocktail in 1860, and the Athletic Club of Detroit, which created the “Last Word” in 1916, the iconic cocktail brought back into fashion by famous Seattle bartender Murray Stenson in 2004.
It was at the beginning of the 21st century that cocktails experienced a renaissance around the world. Premium spirits such as Chartreuse naturally found their place in this new movement.
For over a century, Americans have remained enthusiastic about Chartreuse. Paradoxically, it was only recently, in 2022, that the historic product of the Carthusian monks, the “Elixir vegetal de la Grande Chartreuse,” crossed the Atlantic under the name “VEGETAL de la Grande Chartreuse.”
