Chartreuse Green Liquor

Chartreuse Verde is the only green liqueur in the world, natural even in its colour. 

Founded in 1084 by San Bruno, the Carthusian Order is one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world.

In 1605, the d’Estrées Marshall delivered a Manuscript to these Christian monks that revealed the recipe to an "Elixir of Long Life", of which no one knows the original origin.
    

Photo of the Distillery

During this time period, only monks and apothecaries possessed the knowledge necessary to work with plants. Although they had this knowledge, the Elixir proved to be too complicated and was only partially utilized for many decades.

In 1737, the Grande-Chartreuse monastery (near Grenoble) decided to conduct a thorough study of the recipe, and it discovered the exact formula of the recipe.

Although the product was now able to be produced in large amounts, its commercialization was very limited due to the technology of the time; in fact, the product was delivered by mule to its merchants. Today it is produced just as it was hundreds of years ago, but is now known as “Grande-Chartreuse Plant Elixir” and has an alcohol content of 71º.

The liqueurs produced by the Carthusian Order do not contain additives or chemicals; the colour is obtained from the plants used during the production process. The 130 plants used in the recipe are first soaked in alcohol and distilled. After this process distilled honey and sugar syrup are added to obtain Green or Yellow Liqueur, and the mixtures are aged in oak barrels before they are commercialized.

Aging Barrels

Green Chartreuse is the only liqueur in the world with a completely natural green colour

It is powerful and unique.

Only two Chartreuse monks know the identity of the 130 plants, how to blend them and how to distill them into this world famous liqueur. They are also the only ones who know which plants they have to macerate to produce the natural green and yellow colours. And they alone supervise the slow ageing in oak casks.