There are few products that I truly love as much as Chartreuse. If you've ever talked to me in store or asked what I drink at home, the answer, for many years now, has been, "I mostly just drink Chartreuse these days." While I love many spirits, Chartreuse has really taken my heart. It's a combination of the well documented and long history (over 9 centuries for the order and 400+ years for the recipe), a certain romanticism and mysticism, purported healing powers, and its down right deliciousness that has fascinated me since my first sip. While volumes can be written (and have) about the Carthusian monks and their famous green elixir (the color Chartreuse was actually named after the beverage, how cool is that!?) the beverage that started it all is known as "Elixir Vegetal de la Grande Chartreuse." From the time the monks received a secret manuscript with a recipe containing 130 plants in 1605 it took the monks over 150 years to 'get it right.' In 1764 they declared to the world it was ready and sold the first bottle of the product we have here today. This was all a natural fit for the monks as they had long provided medicinal knowledge for the community around them as well as plant husbandry (there is still a fruit tree nursery from the monks in Paris' Jardin du Luxembourg, home to a Carthusian Monastery long before it was home to the French Senate). While the elixir is their first product, it doesn't have much sugar in it and it's bottled at 69% ABV, so it is quite intense. Chartreuse Green and Yellow were introduced in the 1800s as more easily enjoyed versions of that same secret 130 plant recipe. There have been many iterations over the years and the popularity has waxed and waned, but with the revival of The Last Word cocktail (thank you, Murray Stenson) demand for this special product has skyrocketed. Interestingly, the monks, who rely on the sales of Chartreuse to fund the monastery aren't actually all that interested in the production. They just want to make enough to quietly pray and contemplate God, mostly away from civilization. As such, with the huge interest today, Green and Yellow Chartreuse are impossible to keep in stock and there doesn't appear to be additional production coming to relieve the shortage. Even if the were to ramp up production, the liqueurs age for approximately 3 years before being released. However, for the first time ever, Elixir Vegetal, is being released in the United States! The quirks as to why this has never been sold in the US are too long to get into here, but for years I personally would hand carry a bottle or two home every time I went to Europe, or beg friends to bring one home for me if they went. It's available at nearly all French pharmacies with a day or two notice. The uses are endless for this magic elixir. While for obvious reason the monks can't claim any healthy benefits for this nonFDA approved digestif, I can tell you that I always put a spoonful in a cup of tea when I'm not feeling well. It's wonderful dropped on a sugar cube after dinner as a digestif. It makes the perfect glass rinse in place of Absinthe for many cocktails. If you just want to make your Last Word a hell of a lot more intense, try it in place of Green in full or partial measure. It's an amazing product that will undoubtedly make its way into the serious bar programs across the country in new and creative ways now that it's readily available. As to what does it tastes like? My tasting notes will never do the complexity justice, but here is an abbreviated version anyway: The nose is a wild pepper of every color mixed with exotic floral and herbaceous teas. Cinnamon and sandalwood, allspice and ginger, nuts of many types and so much more. On the palate - wild fire - if you're drinking it straight, you're in for it. At 69% ABV it's a bruiser at first, but I'll be damned if it doesn't linger for ages as a pleasant concoction reminiscent of Underburg. You'll really have to try for yourself as it's hard to explain. It comes only in 100ml bottles which are individually packed in 17th century bubblewrap - a hard wooden case the shape of the bottle. Cut the strip around the middle (or twist hard on the top and bottom in opposite directions) to open. Below the bottle is a small plastic stopper which can be fitted into the bottle as a dropper. I usually have a bottle open with and without the stopper so I can pour according to my use. Happy exploring.